6:23
by Dandelion Dreamer
Summary: When the Cullen family, the newest member Bella included, moves to a new city, they are faced with the problem presented by the fact that they are not the only vampires in this town. A new vampire joins their midsts, but she is far from a normal vampire.
1. Early

I opened my blue eyes for the first time that morning. I rolled to my right, like I did every morning, and looked at the clock. As usual, it was precisely 6:23. I didn't need to look at the clock, but I always did. I swung my pale legs out from the warmth of my pink comforter and placed my feet gently on the carpet. I stood up fully and bent over to touch my toes, my one and only wake up stretch. Curling my toes quickly, I heard them do their normal, small crack and smiled. Another day to go through. Hopping over my laptop and stepping over the book I was reading last night, I squeezed myself between my desk and a chest to open my window. I pulled on the wooden handles to release the shutters and looked out at the day.

Predictable as always, clouds covered the sky as far as I could see and I smiled as I heard my neighbor's lawn mower start up. Moving away from the window and out into my room, I carefully stepped over the scattered books and notebooks. I grabbed the cool handle of my white door and pulled it open. The silence and dark in my house was strangely comforting, as it always is at 6:25 in the morning. I lazily made my way into the bathroom and turned on the water. The hot water handle was moved to the halfway point, and the cold water handle was moved to the one quarter point. I ran my hands under it and splashed some water on my face.

With closed eyes, I grabbed my wash and poured some on my left hand. I took my right and began massaging it on my face. When I knew my face was covered, I reached for the towel on the right side of me and ran it under the water. I stood to my full height of five feet, four inches and wiped away all of the soapy mixture on my face. I opened my eyes and ripped the two brown hair ties from my head and let my curly, brown hair rest slightly below my shoulders.

I left the bathroom and grabbed the jeans and t-shirt that I put on top of my hamper. Throwing off the over-sized t-shirt I wore to sleep, I pulled the tight, blue one over. I slipped my slender legs into the jeans with ease and zipped them up. I looked myself in the mirror quickly, and nodded. I reached over to my bookshelf and found my eyeliner. I drew a thin line under my eyes to accent my already thick lashes and closed the eyeliner, replacing it on the shelf. I reached for my sunscreen and rubbed it on my face. With the fresh feeling of sunscreen settling in my face, I exited the room once more. I heard my brother's bed creaking in signs that he was getting up and I began down the stairs. My eyes glanced over the clock in the kitchen out of habit, not need. I already knew that it was 6:30.

My long, slender fingers opened up the cabinet and I pulled out my loaf of bread. I opened it quickly and retrieved two slices before re-tying it and putting the loaf back in the cabinet. I turned around and slipped the two slices into the toaster. I ripped off a paper towel and placed it next to the toaster. I moved back up the stairs in time to see my brother get out of his room and into the bathroom. Once more, I went through my bedroom door and towards my bookshelf in the corner near my mirror.

I quickly applied foundation on my face, accenting its pale nature with a slightly darker tone. I paired it with a powder that matched my skin tone with perfection. With my makeup done, I bent over and picked up the books I needed. I slipped on my sandals and walked out the door. Quickly, I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen once more. I placed the books on the countertop in just enough time for my toast to pop up in the toaster. I plucked them out carefully and dropped them on my paper towel. As I chewed them, I got a water bottle and two Tylenol and swallowed them quickly to relieve the headache I had.

It was a day like any other in my life. I followed my same exact routine, like I always did. There was nothing strange about in the eyes of a stranger. But to me... Well, that day was the first day that I was ever early.

After locking the door behind me, I hopped down the stairs and towards the third car in the driveway. Balancing my books in one hand and fumbling with my keys in the other, I managed to unlock the car and open the passenger side door. I dumped the books and my purse on it and closed the door. I walked over to the driver's side and slid myself into my newly cleaned car. Turning the keys in the ignition, I didn't bother looking at the clock. My radio station turned on and the voice of Bernadette Peters accompanied me down the driveway, out of the development, and onto the main road.

The road brought me right to the school and I signaled left to turn into the parking lot. It seemed like I was the only person there and I looked at my clock. I had to do a double take, because I didn't believe it. How was I early? And then I remembered.

I was going to a new school. I was in a new town. I didn't know anyone. I sighed and pulled into one of the blank parking spaces. I sighed in anticipation as I pulled my keys out of the car. Pausing for a moment, I surveyed the parking lot. It seemed like there were a few people here. But that wasn't much comfort.

The music cut off as I slipped out of the car. I slammed the door shut and went around to the passenger side. As I bent down to retrieve my books, I felt a slight breeze next to me. It was a breeze, per say, but more of a wind, like somebody was moving much too fast. I tried to spin to see who it was but the next thing I knew, my head hit the pavement and everything went black.


	2. Family

With great effort, I lifted my eyelids. But, when I had, I wished that I hadn't. My entire body burned. Not like it was on fire, but with a cold burning all through my body. I screamed bloody murder, it felt like dying. Was it dying? The thought crossed my mind, but I was having trouble seeing, so it was quickly pushed from my mind.

My eyes focused in and out, but there was not much to see. There were four walls, consistent with me being in a room. The walls were painted, but my mind wouldn't register the color. A small table with a lamp on it was in the left corner in front of me, and that looked like it was all.

I don't know how long I had been screaming until my voice gave out on me. I tried to make as much noise as I could, but no one ever came. I was vaguely aware of noises outside the room, but they didn't register until much later. I recall hearing a siren, like somebody was coming to get me, but it passed the house. The burning sensation that I was feeling was killing me, and I couldn't get it to stop.

After what I assumed was a few hours, my voice completely stopped. I couldn't make a sound. But it still hurt. I remember wanting to die. The few days I spent in that room were pure hell. I couldn't sleep, I wasn't eating. But I felt like I didn't need to. That would have sparked my interest if it weren't for the everlasting pain. Finally, after what seemed like months of pain and torture, a door opened. Before then, I didn't even know there was a door.

"How are you feeling?" the person who stepped through the door asked. I couldn't see the face, but I could tell from the voice that it was a man.

Strangely, I wasn't hurting anymore. I supposed the pain had left a while back, so I answered, "Okay."

"That's good." The person turned to leave.

"Wait!" I croaked, my voice still sore from all the screaming I had been doing. "Where are you going?"

The person turned around and crouched down to me on the floor. I saw his face. He had very pointed features and pale skin, I noticed that. His hair was a dark black, the blackest hair I had ever seen on a person before. He had a sinister smile on his face, and oddly formed teeth. But what scared me the most were his eyes. They were blood red.

"Don't worry, little girl," he patronized, "I'm coming back." And he was gone. In practically a split second, there were at least five shadows on me. My world went black again, and I was lifted off the ground. Something was tied around my mouth and I bit at it. It was a black cloth. I tried to fight back, but whoever was holding me was strong. I was shoved into somewhere and I felt it vibrating underneath me.

Then it moved, and I knew I was in a car. I couldn't hear any voices, so I banged around a little bit. I was in a confined space, a very small confined space. The trunk. So I relaxed. There was nothing I could do. I felt no pain, so that was good. I had no idea where I was going, that was bad. I tried to pull my hand up, but I realized they had been tied. So, blindly, I attempted to slip my tied arms over my legs. I managed to, and I put my hand against my heart.

Nothing.

I hit my chest hard, and waited again. There was nothing. I moved my hands to my throat and felt around for a pulse. There was none. How was this possible? Was I dead? If I was dead, then how come I could feel the rough fabric in my mouth and over my eyes? If I was dead, I wouldn't be breathing! I cut off my breath. I felt no light-headedness. I didn't need to breathe?

What in the world was going on?

As if answering my question, the car stopped and I was being lifted from the trunk. I made no effort this time. If I was dead, what was the point? I was dropped onto some concrete, but I felt no pain.

It didn't hurt at all. I heard a doorbell ring, and the car leave. I waited for the pain to settle. It didn't. I waited and waited for me to feel something, anything! But no pain came. I heard the door open and a girl's gasp.

"Carlisle! Carlisle!" I heard, the female's voice was yelling.

Within the second, I was aware of another presence. "Esme, what-" The male voice ceased. "Let's get her inside." I felt somebody picking me up and in the next second, I was put down on something soft. Cold hands lifted my head and another pair of cold hands undid my blindfold and my gag.

When my sense of sight was returned to me, I looked around. I was in another room, white this time. It looked very nice, like a palace of sorts. My eyes glided towards the window, and it was still cloudy outside. I figured we were still in Astoria.

"Honey, are you alright?" the woman, who I could only assume was Esme, asked in a sugar-sweet voice. My head snapped to her direction. She was beautiful. Her face was angular, with skin as white as snow. She looked kind of like... No, her face was more rounded and her hair was a beautiful caramel. She had the kind of hair that I wished that I had.

"The pain's gone," I gasped out.

The man looked down at me and asked, "What's your name?"

"Dawn." The man had most of the same features as the woman. The pointed features, the pale skin, the topaz eyes. His hair, however, was a golden color. All of these together made him drop-dead gorgeous. I was slightly intimidated by him and his good looks. But he seemed kind enough.

As I was taking their appearances, they seemed to only be staring at my eyes. The man cleared his throat and asked, "Can you tell me what happened to you?"

"Uh... sure. Why do you want to know?" I asked cautiously.

He shrugged. "Curiousity."

I paused for a moment, trying to remember. "Well, I woke up. Sixty twenty three, like I always do. And I got ready for school and left. I was early to school, and I was getting my books. It was really weird, because I'm never that early to school. I mean, I'm never late. So I was getting my books and I felt this little breeze, like somebody ran over to me. And I turned to see them, but they pushed me to the ground and it went black.

"When I woke up, I was disoriented. And I was in a room... I don't know where. There was a small table, and a lamp. And a door! I think I was there for days, because I couldn't sleep. But I was in so much pain. I was burning. Not like fire, but like a cold burning through my body. It was so painful... And I didn't eat, but I wasn't hungry. I didn't sleep either. I was, like, a zombie? Yeah, a zombie! The pain subsided and some guy came into the room and talked to me. He asked if the pain was gone. And I said yes. And I asked him where he was going when he was about to leave. He leaned down and I got a good look at his face.

"He looked kind of like you guys. He had the pointed face with pale skin. Oh, his teeth were oddly formed. It was weird. And the hair! His hair was the blackest color I've ever seen! But the eyes really caught my attention. They were red, like a real red. Not the red you read about in books that sounds so fake." I knew that I was talking much too fast and far too much, but I always did that.

"This red had depth. He told me that he was coming back, and he did, like a second later. There were more this time, and they tied me up and carried me to a car. I was in the trunk, because I kicked and there was a lid on it. And I couldn't hear voices or music or anything but the car moving. And then they stopped and I was out of the trunk. They dropped me on concrete, but it didn't hurt. And I was trying to figure out why it didn't hurt. They rang the doorbell and less than a second later, the car was driving away. And then you," I looked to Esme, "opened the door and called him," I looked at the man, Carlisle was his name, I then remembered. "And you put me in here and started asking me questions."

I stood up in a sudden swiftness that surprised me. "Now I have to go. I don't think I've seen my family." I started walking to the door, but they were in front of it before I could even take a step.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Carlisle told me with sad eyes.

"Why not?" I asked, really wanting to get home.

Esme sighed. "Because, Dawn, you're not human anymore. You're a danger to your family." She looked down, saddened at the thought. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "But you... You're a vampire."

I gawked at her. "How stupid do you think I am?" I asked her. "I know vampires don't exist. That's impossible." Esme was at my side in a second.

She took shoulders slightly and led me towards a mirror. "Take a look at yourself." I stepped forward, expecting to see the freckled, pale skin I was so used to. But I didn't. I saw beautiful, long, brown hair cascading down almost white shoulders. I opened my mouth, and saw that my teeth were changed. I examined them carefully, poking them with my finger. They were pointed. It seemed like my entire face had changed. I didn't look a thing like myself. Except for my eyes. My eyes were still the same shade of blue.

"What happened?" I gasped, pulling at my now beautiful face.

"Becoming a vampire comes with changes," Carlisle explained from behind me. "You've probably noticed by now that you don't have a pulse. That's because you don't have blood, or a heart." No heart? I tried to get away from thinking that it meant I couldn't love, because your physical heart had nothing to do with that. But I had no physical heart. It wouldn't beat.

Carlisle continued, "You're welcome to stay here. You will be in good company, because we're all vampires here. We only ask that you abide by our rules."

"Please understand that you would be a danger to yourself, us, and all humans if we let you out of our sight," Esme explained. "We've been able to keep our existence a secret from the humans around us. And, well, young vampires are very thirsty."

"I'm not thirsty," I told her.

Carlisle gave me a patronizing look. "She meant for blood. If you were anywhere near a human, you would go crazy."

"Could I... stay with you?" I asked tentatively.

"Of course," Esme said with a gentle smile. "I'll go get the family," she told Carlisle gently. With an extreme amount of grace, she made her way up the stairs. I looked anywhere but at Carlisle, who I could still feel staring at me.

"Do you mind if I look at your eyes?" he asked suddenly. I blinked a few times.

"Uh... okay. Go ahead." He approached me and stared into my eyes.

He stood there for a moment, examining my eyes. "Interesting." He backed away. "I've never seen anything like it."

I bit my lip. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, not in the least," he assured me. "It's just that... well, your eyes. They're blue." He laughed. "I suppose that's normal in your mind. But, as a vampire, your eyes should be black. Or at least red."

"Your eyes are topaz," I reminded him. I couldn't be the only weird one.

"Yes, of course. But that comes with abstaining from human blood." I couldn't question him further, because people started coming down the stairs. The first person down was a pretty, pixie-like girl with black hair. She smiled at me brightly, but her smile faltered at little at my eyes.

Next came a boy, with blond hair and a lean body. He stood next to the pixie-like girl and just stared at me, no emotion showing in his face. After him was an exceptionally beautiful girl. She was tall, with most gorgeous blond hair that I had ever seen. Behind her was another boy with a very strong build, I could tell he was strong.

Finally, two more of them came down the stairs, holding hands. The girl had a bright face and a big smile. Her hair was brown, like mine, only hers was straight as opposed to my curly hair. Her eyes were red, but I could see they were slowly changing. She must have been a new vampire, I had told myself. The last was a beautiful boy, tall and lanky with bronze colored hair. Were they all from the same family?

"Dawn," started Carlisle, "this is our family." I smiled weakly at them. "This is Alice," he started, the pixie-like girl walked over to me and gave me a hug. "A new sister!" she giggled in my ear.

She walked away, and Carlisle introduced the next as Jasper, Alice's husband. He simply waved at me. The next was Rosalie, and she came over to hug me as well. Her husband, Emmett, came and hugged me when he was introduced as well.

The bright-faced girl was introduced as Bella, short for Isabella. She came over quickly and hugged me, whispering, "I'm not the new kid anymore!" She smiled at me and returned to Edward, her husband, who was introduced last. He simply waved to me as well.

"Rose, Alice," Esme started. "I'd like you two to look after Dawn, make sure she feeds regularly. You know," she smiled at Alice, "just like you did with Jasper." In almost an instant, the entire group had vanished except Rosalie and Alice. They smiled at me with kind eyes and came over.

"Well," started Rosalie, "I guess you have some questions?"

I nodded my head. I didn't know where to start.

"First of all," Alice said, taking my hand, "you're going to need to go hunting. Ask some questions on the way."


	3. Talents

It was 6:23.

I could sense it in my body, and I immediately stopped the flow of questions. Rose and Alice stopped and looked at me oddly. For an entire day, I had only shut up to feed on deer. I had put myself past the fact of killing another living thing by telling myself that it was better a deer than a human.

But it was 6:23.

"Dawn?" Rosalie asked me. "Are you okay?" I looked from her to Alice and back again.

"Do you know what time it is?" I asked her. Alice had pulled out her cell out in a second and looked at the time.

Alice slipped it back into her pocket, replying, "It's 6:23. Why do you ask?"

I took in a breath. 6:23. I was sad now. We had been hunting since last night; Rose and Alice wanted to make sure that I was perfectly well-fed. I would probably sound crazy if I told them why I knew it was 6:23. "No reason," I stated simply, smiling dryly. "Let's head back," I tried to convince them.

Rose looked at me with a sideways glance. "Fine," she breathed. "Let's go." The three of us took off towards the car. I couldn't get over the sensation of running. I absolutely loved it. The wind in my face, the whisper it held in my ear... It was magical. Before I knew it, we were in the car.

"Can I ever see my family again?" I asked quickly. Rose sighed and looked at Alice in the driver's seat. Alice shook her head and pointed a finger at Rose. The blond turned around in her seat and locked eyes with me.

"No. Sorry," she told me. "They wouldn't recognize you anyway." She was a bit harsh, but I ignored it. That was just how Rosalie was.

Sighing back into the seat, I muttered, "I just wish it could be different."

"Why?" Rose asked me quickly. I kept forgetting that they could hear almost everything.

"Well, my family... My mother is going through a bad time." I stopped, considering if I should tell them or not. "She's kind of depressed, or so the doctors say. Ever since the miscarriage, she's been addicted pain killers. And she keeps drinking and drinking, I'm just worried that my disappearance will hurt her even more. My dad can't take care of her, because he's always traveling for work. My brother is more interested in learning how to fly a plane than anything else." I stopped, and looked to see their reaction.

Alice sighed. "We could go visit them," she whispered.

"No, Alice!" Rose scolded. "It could only turn out for the worse." She turned back to me. "Dawn, you are not to go see them. You could do something that you don't want to do." She stared at me with knowing eyes. "The last thing you want to do is hurt your family. And you would be hurting us, too. Your new family." She sighed and kneeled on her seat to face me fully. "We may seem unconventional, but... We are a family. And now you're my sister, and I'm yours. I'm only trying to help you." Her topaz eyes sparkled with honesty. Alice reached across to hit her slightly. "And Alice is here too," she told me quickly. I saw Alice smile.

Alice stepped on the gas and the car flew down the road quickly. I watched the unfamiliar city fly by. It was hard to believe that four days ago, I was worried about fitting in at school. For those brief moments when I was lost in my mind, I had completely forgotten my questions.

"Have you guys always lived in Astoria?" I asked suddenly. Rose pointed her finger at Alice. Through the rear-view mirror, Alice made eye-contact with me.

"No, we move around every few years. When Bella joined us four years ago, we went to Alaska to help her. Before that, we lived in Forks, Washington. That's where Edward met Bella." Alice smiled. "She was a human and for some reason, her scent appealed to him."

Rose interrupted, "He was really sad when she finally made him change her." She glared at Alice for a moment. "Only Edward and I thought that Bella should stay human."

"It was what she wanted!" Alice exclaimed, and I noticed that we seemed to speed up even more. "Who are we to prevent her from staying with Edward? He loves her, and she loves him. And now they can love each other for eternity." There was a pause, almost a hesitation, before she continued, "Like you and Emmett, and Jasper I."

Rose looked agitated. "She could have stayed human. She _should_ have stayed human. And, yes, I know that she wanted to become a vampire." She sighed. "When Edward _wanted_ to kill himself, why didn't you let him then?"

Alice swerved off the road and slammed on the breaks. "Out," she muttered to Rose. The two exited and closed the doors. They argued for a while, yelling at each other and pointing fingers. They couldn't do much else without drawing extra attention to them. I stared at them. Even when agitated, they still looked exceptionally beautiful and graceful. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like them now. That would take some getting used to.

My two companions returned to the car. They would shoot glares at each other every once in a while, but otherwise the ride went smoothly. We soon returned to the Cullen house. I glanced at the clock, and knew exactly what I would be doing at this point if I wasn't a vampire. Alice caught me staring and gently pulled my arm.

I heard the television on and Alice led me to it. The entire family was gathered around it, watching the news. The instant I saw my old picture, I was scared. The newscaster was saying something about an "Amber Alert". I knew that meant they thought I was missing.

I looked at Carlisle and asked him quietly, even though I knew everyone else would hear it anyway, "Are we going to do anything about that?"

"I'm afraid we can't." We all stared at the screen as they moved from my alleged kidnapping to another news story. The family started to move away, going upstairs or elsewhere. Rose and Alice, however, stayed by my side. My parents suddenly appeared on the screen and I snapped to attention.

I had been zoning out previously, but seeing my parents made me jump. I went a few feet away from the screen and sat there, watching them beg for me back. I felt myself about to cry, but I kept the tears in. The video of my parents was yanked from me, and I felt sadder afterwards. I stood up quickly and Rose and Alice did as well.

"Where's my room?" I asked, looking at the floor. Rose made her way to me and tugged on my elbow.

"Upstairs. I'll show you." Cautiously, Rosalie slipped her hand in mine. She smiled down at me, but quickly dropped it. In seconds, we had run to my room. Rose dropped my hand and walked down the hallway without another word. I walked into the unfamiliar room and looked around.

It was pretty plain, but I was okay with that. There was a bed, but that would be pointless, unless we had to cover for some reason. As I looked out at the room, tears came to my eyes. I collapsed on the bed and shook with ferocious sobs for hours. I knew that everyone could hear me. Well, maybe I wasn't aware of that at the time, but my subconscious knew.

But I couldn't keep the tears from rolling down my cold cheeks. I didn't know these people. I didn't know myself. I was a monster. I was a danger to myself. After a while, the tears stopped. I couldn't bring myself to leave the room.

_A few days later..._

I still hadn't left my room. From time to time, Rose or Alice would come and talk to me. But I was alone most of the time. Presently, there was a knock on my door. "Come in," I called. The door cracked open and one of my "brothers" stepped in. "Edward, right?" I asked.

"Yeah." He stood there for a moment, and I realized how pitiful I looked. I sat up and curled my legs underneath me.

"Did you want to talk to me about something?" I broke the silence.

He shrugged. "Just wondering if you found your talent yet." He paused and studied me for a moment. "Your eyes..." he muttered. "They're..."

"Blue? I'm aware." I brushed some hair out of my face. "Carlisle told me that it wasn't... normal. But, then again," I paused, "I just became a vampire. Normal left with my freckles."

"Huh." He remained standing at the door.

I tilted my head at him. "What did you say about talents before?"

"Every vampire has a special... ability, I suppose you could say." He smirked. "Like me, for example. Right now I can your thoughts." My eyes widened.

"Now that's a talent," I muttered. He nodded.

"But I guess you haven't found yours yet." Edward winked at me. "Trust me, when you find out, I'll know." He closed the door gently.

"That's really kind of creepy, I hope you know that," I called to the door. I heard him laughing. Almost immediately, there was another knocking at my door. "Come in," I mumbled. Alice danced into the room.

"What did Edward say?" she asked, sitting herself on the bed with me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "He asked me what my talent was, told me my eyes are blue, and told me that he can hear my thoughts."

Alice laughed. "So he didn't tell you about anyone else's talents?" I shook my head. She sighed and pulled her legs underneath her. "I'll tell you then. Okay, so I can see the future. It's never definite, so my visions change when they make a choice or something. It's all very cool. Jazz can make people feel a certain emotion." She smiled. "Comes in very handy when Rose blows up on us all. Emmett is just abnormally strong for a vampire. I suppose you could have guessed that. Rosalie... Well, I guess that her talent, per say, is being extremely stuck up." Alice laughed. "She's going to kill me when she finds out I said that. Esme has an extreme capacity to love. And Carlisle... He has impeccable self-control."

"That's pretty cool..." I mumbled.

"It is!" she exclaimed. "Did you know that Carlisle is a doctor?" I cocked an eyebrow. She nodded enthusiastically. "That's where he first met Bella, in the emergency room." Alice laughed at the memory. "Edward saved her from getting run over. I think that's when she started falling in love with him."

I smiled. "That's sweet." But it didn't do much to help me. Alice stared at me for a moment.

"Hey, are you okay?" she whispered, touching my hand in a sisterly gesture. I nodded slowly, and she stood up.

"Let me know if you need something." And then she left. The silence that echoed in my room was enough to drive me mad. I felt tears coming on again, but I forced them back. To distract myself, I left the comfort of my bed and moved to the small window that looked into the backyard. The view was breath-taking. There was so much to look at, I didn't know where to begin. I never got the chance to really study it because the door bell rang.

Curious, I left my room joined the family gathered around the door. Rosalie and Alice saw me, and immediately were at my side, holding my arms. "What're you..."

"Sshh." Rose put a finger to her lips. "It's your father." Carlisle opened the door and I saw my father. Everybody but Carlisle averted their gaze to me. I was confused, was I supposed to do something?

"Good day Dr. Cullen," my father said. "I was just wondering if you had seen my daughter." He held up a picture.

Carlisle shook his head. "I'm very sorry, but I haven't seen her." He looked at my father with sad eyes. "I really do hope you find her, though."

"Thank you." He nodded at the rest of us and turned around. Carlisle closed the door and everyone stared at me. For a moment, all was silent.

"What?" I finally asked.

"Dawn, aren't you thirsty?" Rosalie asked me. I shook my head. "That's odd..." she muttered under her breath.

Carlisle approached me. "You didn't feel the need to feed when your father came?" he asked me.

I shook my head again. "I smelled him, yes. But... I didn't... Want to... You know." Comprehension seemed to dawn on Carlisle's face. I titled my head at him. "What?" I asked.

"That makes sense." Edward nodded as well, and I remembered that he could read minds. Carlisle looked into my eyes once more. "That's why your eyes are blue. You don't thirst for human blood..."

I was glad to know that I wasn't the only one confused. Almost everyone started speaking at once. I felt a wave of calm come over me and snuck a peak at Jasper as the voices started to die down.

"Dawn, did you do anything unusual the day you were... bitten?" Carlisle asked me carefully. I shook my head again.

"I did everything the exact same way I did every day," I told him. "I woke up at 6:23, like I did every day." My eyes flew to Alice for a moment. She looked like she understood now. "And I got ready for school. That was it." Carlisle nodded and the group disengaged. Rose let go of my arm and left as well. Soon, it was only Alice and I.

"So... that's pretty interesting." Alice let go of my arm as well. "6:23, eh?" she chuckled. "That's a peculiar time."

**Finally, it's done. I promise that the chapters will come faster after this one. But, just to quicken it a little more... Why don't you review? I mean, it only takes a minute to write something to encourage me. xD**


	4. School

I walked through the hospital doors with a wave of fear crashing over my head. Carlisle was in front of me, and Alice and Rose had my arms in a tight clutch. It was just a test, that's what Carlisle had told me.

The smell of blood reached my nose in an instant. My "escorts" stopped and looked at me expectantly. "Nothing," I informed them with a smile. A man on a stretcher with blood trickling out his head passed us relatively closely. They looked at me again. "Still nothing," I told them.

Alice smiled. "Well that's good. You can come to school now!" Rose smiled as well.

"Oh, but God, what do you think the boys at school will say about her?" Rose chuckled as we walked out of the hospital.

"What? What do you mean by that, Rose?" I asked.

She laughed at me. "I'd hate to be Edward on Monday. Those guys will be having so many nasty thoughts about you." Her lips curved into a smile. "You've got face it, hon, you're _hot_ now." Alice giggled loudly.

"We'll have to go shopping," Alice babbled as we got into the car. I was, once again, stuck in the backseat. Rose's face lit up at the mention of shopping.

"Oh but of course! She can't keep borrowing our clothes." Alice started the car and Rose's smile widened. "But... what's stopping us from going shopping now?" We all exchanged looks and giggled again. Alice sped off in the direction of the mall.

The loud noise of the mall greeted my ears as the three of us walked in, arms looped together. I was very glad I was unaffected by humans, or else shopping would have been impossible. We went from store to store, buying me an entire closet of clothes. I felt guilty at first, but then realized that we had all the time in the world to earn this money back... literally.

I loved shopping with the girls and made a mental note to do it again, and soon! We had a lot of fun, especially when we found something outrageously ugly and took turns trying it on.

"Those bunny leggings were the best, though," Alice giggled as we walked through the mall, feeling almost everyone watching us. What with Rosalie the supermodel, Alice the cutie, and me the apparent _hot one_, we were a group to be envied.

I heard a song in the background of the mall and stopped, pulling Alice and Rose with me. "I love this song!" I exclaimed. They both stopped to listen to it.

"Oh my gosh, I remember this song!" Rosalie exclaimed. Alice nodded along with the music. My foot started tapping to the beat. I noticed Rosalie moving her shoulders and bobbing her head. I started dancing slightly, not noticeably. Alice laughed at me and Rose dancing discreetly and started full out dancing.

Rose and I laughed at her. Alice shook her head and grabbed my hands. All three of us started dancing and felt even more people staring at us. As the best line came along, we all froze and yelled out, "Now STOP! HAMMER TIME!" We all started cracking up and picked up our discarded bags. Our giggles continued as we walked to the next store we would go into. It felt so nice to jump out of my shell and do something outrageous with Alice and Rosalie. And, surprisingly, it just felt so natural.

After our little shopping trip, we all returned to the Cullen house. Every once in a while, we'd all look at each other and start cracking up. As we entered the house, Edward looked up from the piano and Alice smiled. He stared at Alice for a moment, then his eyes widened.

"You didn't..." he whispered, looking at all three of us. We looked at each other and started giggling again.

Edward shook his head at us, and we laughed all the way to my room and dumped the bags on my bed. "That was so much fun," I breathed, finally being able to stop laughing. I flopped down onto my bed. Alice jumped and fell down next to me. Rose simply sat and let herself fall backwards. We started laughing again for no reason.

"We should do that again sometime," mused Alice. Rosalie and I nodded in agreement. Alice sat up suddenly and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, the back-to-school dance!" Rosalie's eyes lit up and she sat up as well.

"The what?" I asked, not bothering to get up from the bed.

"There's a back-to-school dance coming up, and since you'll be going to school," Alice paused and poked me lightly, "We can totally rock out there!"

Rosalie let out a laugh and got up in a swift movement. I wondered if I could do that as well. I tried, and I could. The three of us starting putting my new items into my closet. Rosalie and Alice were talking more about the dance and Alice mentioned something about a date.

"No, no, no, no, NO! She is not going to date some... human," Rosalie snarled. Alice hit her lightly.

"You're just resentful that Edward fell in love with Bella," Alice teased. Rose scoffed then turned to me.

"You may be immune to human blood, but we're still terrifying to humans." She paused. "Except for humans like Bella was. For some reason—"

Alice interrupted, "Whatever, Rose. The point is that we are going to get you a date to the dance."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Rose chided, waggling her finger at Alice. "I think she should go stag." As the words left her mouth, she realized it was a bad idea. Once again, I was reminded that I was the only one alone. "I mean..." Rose tried to cover. "I guess... One night..." She quickly busied herself organizing the clothes when she saw the look on my face.

"Hah," Alice stated. "I. Win." She stuck her tongue out at Rose like a five-year-old. She winked at me. "I don't think finding one will be hard. I think picking one will be harder." There was laughter at my door and all three of us turned around to see Emmett.

"Quite the amusing conversation, I must say," he said between laughter. Rosalie crossed to him and hugged him. "Mind if I steal her away?" he asked Alice and me.

"Go," Alice muttered and the pair turned around and moved towards their bedroom. She turned back to me. "So... now that you have your wardrobe, I think we need to find a first-day-of-school outfit!" She squealed and pulled me into the closet once more.

I stood outside the school in the parking lot once more. Flashbacks of that day came into my mind, and Edward obviously noticed for he punched Alice in the shoulder. She snapped to attention and grabbed my arm.

"Come on, let's go to your homeroom!" She squeaked and we started running at the human speed, laughing all the way. I seemed to forget my worry, and at first I thought it was just being around Alice. But, thinking twice, it was probably a mixture between her and Jasper.

Alice gave me a swift kiss on the cheek before saying, "I'll see you at lunch. Just look for the most secluded table with the hottest people." She left me standing in front of my homeroom class. Sighing, I pushed the door open. The classroom was about half-full, and I certainly did notice when everyone stared at me. Bravely, I walked up to the teacher and cleared my throat. The aging woman turned and her eyes focused on me.

"Ah, you must be the new Cullen girl, Dawn was it?" She pulled a slip of paper from her desk. "Yes, Dawn. Well, dear, go ahead and take a seat next to Blake," she pointed to a desk in the front row. "I'll have you introduce yourself to the class when school actually starts." She smiled pleasantly at me and I forced myself to smile back. I turned to the desk where I would be sitting.

Sighing, I walked swiftly to my seat and gracefully slid down into it. "Hello," I chirped to the boy who was eying me carefully. "I'm Dawn Cullen," I held out my hand to him.

He grabbed my hand. "Blake Smythe." I smiled at him and let the hand drop. I turned my attention to my schedule, but took notice that he was still watching me. _American Literature__... room 509... 509... Where is five-oh-nine?_ I thought to myself, wondering where I had put that map.

"Dude, who's the chick?" I heard a boy hiss from across the aisle. I smirked to myself, remembering the enhanced hearing. Blake left his chair and moved to a boy on the other side. My head followed him and I smiled at his friend before returning to my schedule.

"Dawn Cullen, the doctor's new daughter." My eyes caught their every moment. The friend nudged Blake in the ribs.

"Have you talked to her?" he prompted. I saw Blake flush.

"Shut up, she just said hello and told me her name."

"What in the hell are you doing talking to me?" The friend shoved him towards me again.

Blake scowled. "Come on, you want me to introduce her to you or not?" The friend popped out of his chair with a little too much speed. I quickly registered this in my brain, but quickly discarded the idea of him being a vampire. He was much too human. I heard Blake clear his throat and I looked up, smiling like I hadn't just heard what they had said.

"Uh... Dawn this is Nate," Blake introduced.

I smiled brightly and held my hand out to Nate. "Nice to meet you!"

Nate took the hand and kissed it lightly. I giggled lightly, and if I had blood I would have flushed. I sighed and shoved the schedule away from me. Where in the hell was the—

Oh wait. The idea dawned on me to ask them. "Um," I started, catching their attention again, "Can you tell me where I could find room five-oh-nine?"

"You've got class in five-oh-nine?" Nate asked me. I nodded. "So do I! I'll just show you after homeroom." The boy smiled, but Blake frowned.

"Thank you so much," I said. I knew that I sounded like a goody-two-shoes... Well, I am a goody-two-shoes. I am a shy, quiet girl that follows the rules. Except when being influenced by my new... family. See the whole mall incident. The memory brought a real smile to my face and I stifled a giggle.

The teacher called our attention and Nate rushed back to his seat. But don't think for a second I didn't notice him sneaking glances at me almost every five seconds. And don't think that Blake wasn't doing the same thing, along with the rest of the class.

"Well, as you may have noticed, we have a new student joining us today!" The teacher clapped her hands together. "Dawn, why don't you come introduce yourself?" I stood up and breezed my way to the front of the class.

"Hi, my name is Dawn Cullen." I smiled dryly. "I... uh... was just adopted by the Cullen family and..." I frowned slightly. "I like to sing." To save myself from further embarrassment, I returned to my seat. The teacher smiled at me, and continued with telling us the announcements of the day. When homeroom was over, Nate shot over to me.

"Can I carry your books?" he asked me quickly. I smiled at him and handed him the books I had been carrying.

"Thank you so much for helping me," I explained again as we started to make our way out of the classroom. "I'm totally..." I trailed off as I saw Edward leaning against the wall outside the classroom, laughing. "Confused," I finished. "Hello Edward," I said. "What have you been doing?"

_Oh dear God, he's thinking something dirty, isn't he?_ I thought, knowing he would hear me. He only laughed harder. _Tell me later, okay?_ He nodded. "Nate, Edward. Edward, Nate." I bit my lip. "Nate has English with me," I informed Edward.

"Nice to meet you... Nate," Edward said between laughs. "Just wanted to make sure that you've made a..." He looked at Nate, holding back laughter. "Friend," he finished before blending into the crowd. I shook my head after him.

"_He's _your brother?" Nate asked me as we continued down the hallway.

"Please," I exclaimed, "you should see my sisters!" Nate and I continued out of the hallway and into the quad. He explained to me where the major spots were before we headed down an outside hallway to an excluded part of the campus. The 500 wing, I learned, was an add-on to the school, so they built it on the side. They added more lockers when they added the wing, and they are now known as the "freshman lockers" because only freshmen were stuck with the out-of-the-way lockers.

We reached five-oh-nine and went in. I had to go up to the teacher. "Dawn Cullen, I assume?" he asked when he saw me approach him. He waved a hand towards an empty desk. "Take a seat." I immediately liked Mr. Larson—he didn't make me introduce myself in front of the class. He simply told people who I was and continued on the lesson.

The school was odd in one way—you had half of your classes one day, then the second half the next. They were called "A" and "B" days. So, subsequently, the classes were twice as long. But, I only had to sit through two before lunch and two after lunch.

After English, Nate told me, after looking at my schedule, that I had an "off period". Which basically meant that I could goof around for an hour and a half. Too bad I didn't have anyone to do it with. A girl overheard that I had an off-period. She approached me and told me that I could hang out with her. I was immediately grateful. She told me her name was Cassie.

"So... you're like... one of the Cullens," she had stated lamely.

"Yeah," I replied, fiddling with my hair. We were walking. Where? I wasn't entirely sure of that myself.

She nodded and hugged her books tighter to her chest. "That one with the golden hair... he's cute."

_He's married._ I thought. "I guess you could say that," I muttered, smiling to myself. "His name is Edward. But I'm pretty sure his _girlfriend_, Bella, would kill anyone who got close to him." I looked at her and she looked crestfallen.

"Well, what about that muscular one?" she asked dreamily.

"I can tell you for sure that Rosalie would kill anyone who got near him." She stiffened.

"Well, what about—"

"Jasper? He's dating Alice." Cassie rolled her eyes.

"So they're all, like, together." She raised her eyebrows at me. "What about you?"

"What about me?" I asked. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?"

I laughed at her. "No," I stated. "I do not have a boyfriend." Cassie smiled at me sweetly.

"That's a shame. You're so pretty!" she squeaked. We went inside a large building. I instantly recognized it to be the cafeteria. "Honestly, you don't have a boyfriend?" she asked me.

"Honestly." Could she stop rubbing it in my face?

She walked us to a table and set her books down. I followed suit as she rumpled through her purse. "You want something to eat?" she asked absently. She emerged from her purse with a crumpled dollar bill. I shook my head. "Really? Oh well, come with me anyway." She grabbed my hand, but recoiled at how cold it was.

"Sorry," I mumbled, pulling my hand back. "I honestly should have brought a jacket," I covered lamely. She shrugged and grabbed my hand again.

"Come on, you'll want to see what's for lunch anyways." We went through two doors and into a narrow room. She pulled out a small container of fruit from an ice box. Thinking twice, she grabbed a bagel as well. "You sure you don't want anything?" Cassie asked me as she paid for her fruit and bagel. Three dollars even, I noted. How overpriced!

"Positive. I can wait till lunch." Cassie and I headed back to the table. We sat down and she looked around the cafeteria carefully.

"Oh, Tiffany!" Cassie called, waving to a girl at another table. The girl waved back and got up. She walked over to us.

"Hey Cassie," she exclaimed, hugging her friend. Her eyes turned to me. "Hi, Tiffany Fowler." She held out her hand.

I shook it and stated, "Dawn Cullen." Her eyebrows raised as she heard my last name.

"Dawn's got English with me," Cassie informed Tiffany. The girl took a seat across from me.

"Oh, you've got Larson." She frowned. "I had him last year. He's tough, but he's good." She smiled at me. "So... you're one of the Cullens?" she asked me.

"Yes..." I said, knowing what was coming next.

"Don't bother, Tiffany," Cassie giggled. "They're all dating each other, except for Dawn." Tiffany frowned and looked back at me.

"That true?" she asked me.

I nodded and took a deep breath. "Yeah, Bella and Edward, Rose and Emmett, and Jasper and Alice." I shrugged. "And me," I added sadly.

"We'll have to fix that," Tiffany told me, and she looked around the cafeteria. Her eyes spotted some boys and she smiled. Giggling furiously, she said in a sing-song voice, "I'll be right back!" Cassie's eyes followed her as she approached a group of boys that had just walked through the door. As the rather large group approached our table, I was afraid that I had been abducted into the popular group.

That could not be good for a vampire in disguise.

As I studied the boys approaching us, my unneeded breath caught in my throat. My _brother_ was in the mix. My eyes lingered on him the longest. My mind raced, hoping that he would not recognize me. He didn't.

Tiffany smiled at me. "This is..." I could not remember all the names she rattled off. I smiled politely at each of them. Half of the group lingered away into other groups, but some stayed. One boy in particular (I felt very guilty about not remembering his name) talked to me.

"So, what're your hobbies?" he asked me.

I thought for a moment. "Well, I really like singing," I admitted. "But I'm no good at it." Tiffany's ears perked up at the mention of singing.

"You sing?" she interrupted the conversation. I nodded. "Oh my gosh, no way!" she exclaimed. "You should try out for the musical!" She nodded furiously. "And I bet you're better than you think." She winked at me. "Sing something for us!"

"Oh, no, I couldn't!" I exclaimed quickly, but everyone around me was now urging me to sing something. I was feeling the pressure and caved in. "Fine, I'll sing you a bit of..." I thought. "Day by Day," I finished. Quietly, almost a whisper, I started singing.

"_Day by day..._

_Day by day..._

Tiffany joined in a sang with me.

"_Oh dear Lord, three things I pray._

_To see thee more clearly,_

_Love thee more dearly,_

_Follow thee more nearly,_

_Day by day..._"

"Oh you are so trying out for the musical," she told me in a low voice. The rest of the people in earshot seemed to come back to life. I smiled sheepishly.

The rest of my off-period was spent with the boy (whose name was Adam) asking me more questions about myself, Tiffany telling everyone I had an amazing voice, and Cassie explaining that she'll get me a date for the dance, which I learned was the week after.

Soon enough, though, it was time for lunch. "Hey, you're sitting with us at lunch, right?" Cassie asked me. I saw the Cullen family walk through the door.

"No," I stated. "I promised my family." With more speed than what was needed, I was at the side of Rosalie. The family nodded at my arrival and Edward chuckled again.

Everyone stared at him, then at me, then at all the people staring at me, and then they understood. The seven of us started laughing. We entered the narrow room and bought our food. Well, our props, per say. That was probably one of the major things I'd miss—food.

The lunch table was silent for the most part, which was one thing I liked. I had learned that Emmett had my same off-period, so I probably wouldn't be hanging out with Cassie anymore. I also learned that Edward was in Math with me next and that Bella had Science with me after that. But, after that, the table was silent as we picked at our uneaten food.

We were oddities in this world of humans, and yet they seemed so interested in us. They couldn't tell that at any moment, my brothers and sisters could kill them in less than second. I sighed as I stared at the nondescript wall across from me.

Alice and Edward were conversing, I could tell. The way he moved his head, they way he blinked his eyes a few time in a row. I wondered if they were talking about me. Rosalie and Emmett were just staring at each other, their love beyond words. Bella and Jasper seemed to be staring off into space as well.

"There's a new one today," I heard a girl say a few tables away. I sighed and keened my ears in her direction, wanting to listen to what they were saying about me.

"Yeah, she's pretty," another girl mused. One of them sighed.

"How can they all be so beautiful, and yet not related?"

"Aren't two of them related?"

"I don't know, they never talk to us."

Another voice that I recognized at Adam's joined in the conversation, "The new one, that's Dawn."

"You've talked to her?" one of the girls squeaked.

"What's she like?" the other girl prompted. I could practically hear Adam shrugging.

"She's nice. Nicer than the others, I suppose."

"Huh," grunted one of the girls. I felt a tap on my shoulder and Alice nodded her head. Almost simultaneously, the entire Cullen family swept up onto the feet. We walked in a line to the garbage cans, dumping our uneaten lunches into the trashcan. Rosalie and Jasper headed off one way, Emmett and Bella departed to go to their lockers, and Alice bid me and Edward a farewell, saying she had to go to the bathroom.

"So, have you figured out your talent yet?" Edward asked me when we were alone.

I hugged my books close to me. "Don't you think the whole immune-to-humans thing counts as a talent?" I smiled up at him and he laughed.

"No, not exactly." He laughed at me and I hit him lightly. "Well, what do you think you were good at as a... you know."

I thought for a moment. "I thought that I was good at singing... I suppose I'm better now."

"What makes you say that?" I bit my lip carefully.

"Well, this girl I met when I had an off period asked me to sing, and I did. I sounded better..." I looked down at the ground carefully.

"Will you sing for me?" he asked after a moment.

I looked up at him a quirked an eyebrow. "Okay."

"At home, though. We don't know exactly what it could do."

"It's just singing!" I defended myself.

He laughed at me again. "It might affect the humans." He had a point. We traveled up a flight of stairs to the math wing. The teacher, Mr. Greene, made me stand up in front of the class and introduce myself. He said something about the class being able to ask questions. That I was a little worried about.

"Hi... I'm Dawn Cullen..." I mumbled. "Er... yeah." A boy's hand shot up and I turned around to Mr. Greene. He nodded and I pointed at the boy. "Yeah?"

"Willyougotothedancewithme?" the boy asked. I blinked furiously as the class laughed, Edward the loudest.

My eyes sought out his and I thought, _What do I do?_ Edward shrugged his shoulders. I bit my lip and smiled weakly. "No... thanks," I muttered, running a hand through my brown, curly hair. The class laughed again and a few other hands shot up. I pointed to a girl this time.

"Is it true that you are an absolutely fantastic singer?" My eyes immediately collided with Edward's.

"I... wouldn't say that," I muttered. The girl shot her hand up again. I pointed to her again.

"Will you sing for us?"

I looked at Edward again. His eyes were completely serious and shook his head. I reached a hand to my neck and scratched it, a nervous habit of mine. "No, I don't think that would be entirely appropriate... in a math class." Edward snorted and I glared at him.

Apparently, we don't do anything in Mr. Greene's math class because he decided that the class would be used to get to know Dawn Cullen! Which meant an hour and a half of uncomfortable questions. Edward was no help to me whatsoever. He just laughed whenever somebody asked a question that pointed fingers to the fact that I was a vampire.

Now, they were just asking random questions. "What's your favorite color?"

"Red," I stated. I pointed to another person.

"What's your favorite song?" they asked. I smiled and brought the memory of Rose, Alice, and me dancing in the mall.

"Can't Touch This, by MC Hammer," I laughed. Edward seemed to have seen the memory too because he started laughing. Then, I heard it playing the background. I turned to Mr. Greene quickly. I was surprised to see the class getting up and dancing. This WAS math, right?!? Edward told me that it was regular for the class to start listening to music.

I was thoroughly freaked. But, that didn't stop me from forcing Edward to dance. He wasn't very good. People began shouting suggestions at Mr. Greene and the rest of the class was used listening to music. And I escaped any further questions.

Soon enough, thankfully, the class was over. I was the first one out, quickly followed by Edward. "I hate math," I muttered under my breath. With speed only a vampire could pull off, Bella was at our sides.

"How was math?" she asked us after kissing Edward. I rolled my eyes.

I lowered my voice and whispered, "If I wasn't already dead, I'd kill myself." Bella laughed at this and we split from Edward.

"So, how's the first day going?" Bella asked me. I would have to say that Bella was extremely friendly. She sympathized with me at first, before we found out my "deficiency", and we became friends. Now, we were just friends. Probably not as close as Alice and I, but we were close nonetheless. Needless to say, I won't be dancing in any malls with her soon.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Boys are _hitting on me_," I hissed angrily. She laughed at me.

"That's all?" she asked.

I quirked an eyebrow at her. "That's all? That's terrible!" I whined. I was not used to being noticed. In fact, I decided that I did not like to be noticed. At least not in this way. We continued talking as we walked to science. As we approached the doors, I heard my name called.

Turning around, I saw Tiffany leading a staff member in my direction. "Hey Dawn!" she exclaimed. "This is Mister James," she introduced. "He's the performing arts director!"

Bella looked at me curiously. "Oh... uh... Hi," I muttered, fiddling with my hair.

"From what Tiffany has told me, you have quite a voice," the teacher said.

"Oh, well... I wouldn't say that..." I looked at the floor.

"She's just being modest!" Tiffany assured. Note to self: if ever you feel the need for human blood, make it Tiffany.

"We'd love to have you try out for the musical." He handed me a flyer. Mister James left and Tiffany walked into the classroom.

Bella blinked her eyes a few times, as if asking me to tell her. "I..." I started. "Well, never mind," I muttered, walking into the classroom.

**I do not own "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer. However, it is mentioned twice in this chapter. xD Just because it's cool like that. So, yeah, this chapter was very VERY long, and took me relatively no time to write. I don't really know if anything actually HAPPENED in this chapter, I guess it's just a filler. Expect a lot of those until we get into the actual plot of the story. Trust me, all the chapters will not be like this.**


	5. Dates

There was a knocking at my door. It was... two in the morning. Vampires didn't sleep, and I was beginning to resent that. I said, "Come in." Edward opened the door. "Hey Edward," I mused, sitting up on my bed. "What's up?"

"You never did sing for me," he told me, leaning against my door. I rolled my eyes.

"Do I _have_ to?" I asked him. I really did not want to embarrass myself in front of my family. Because I knew they'd all be listening.

Edward laughed. "They won't be listening," he assured me. "Bella, Alice, Rose, and Jasper went hunting anyway." He smiled at me. "Come on, just one song." I rolled my eyes and was at his side.

"If you insist," I mumbled. He led me to his and Bella's room. I had only seen glimpses of the room, and was shocked to see a wall completely devoted to CDs. I ventured over to them, my hands gliding over the many covers. Edward laughed at my reaction.

"Know any of them?" he asked me absently.

"A few..." There were a couple broadway soundtracks that I knew, a few bands that I had heard of.

"Pick one," he urged. My hand immediately reached for a soundtrack that I recognized. I brought the CD to him and he laughed. "What?" I asked him.

"I remember when I saw this show..." He smiled. "It was my gift to Bella before I..." He stopped, but I knew what he was going to say. "I told her that she had to go to a Broadway show while she was human." He smiled. "She loved it." I took the CD from him and slipped it into his stereo. I looked at the back cover and skipped to my favorite song.

I let the intro play and I got into the song before I started singing.

"_Look at the way the moon behaves_

_Look at the way she paints a silver ribbon on the waves_

_One thing I've learned and I'll share with you _

_Nothing is too wonderful to be true_"

I stared at Edward a moment. He was just staring at me, slack-jawed and amazed. "I'm... uh... done," I told him. He seemed to snap out of something.

"Singing is most definitely your talent," he told me with a smile.

I began to leave, but stopped and turned around. "Hey Edward," I said. He looked up from what he was writing down. "What's Bella's talent?" I asked.

"She can sense people." When I looked confused, he explained, "She can tell who people are before they're introduced. She can know if they have good or bad intentions, what their background is, and it's all very cool." He smiled at me. "She knew everything about you before Esme discovered you." I shrugged and left. "But yours is much cooler, I assure you," he whispered when I was half-way down the hall. But I heard it. I didn't believe him.

---

"EDWARD!!!" I heard ringing through the house. Immediately, I was at my door looking out. Bella was _mad_. Bella was _very mad_. "WHAT THE CRAP DID YOU DO TO MY CLOTHES?!?!" she screamed. There was really no need to yell, but I guess old habits die hard. I smirked and looked towards Alice, who was standing in her doorway.

Bella came storming up the stairs. "YOU PUT A _RED _SOCK IN WITH MY WHITE STUFF!" she yelled at Edward's face, holding up a previously white shirt. Edward looked oddly amused, even though Bella was infuriated. I was at Alice's side in a second.

"Why doesn't Jazz calm her down?" I whispered while Bella kept yelling.

Alice smiled and said, "Bella is unaffected by our powers. That makes Edward's life twice as hard." We continued watching the fight ensue, and I wondered if that happened often. I had never seen the two fight before. Alice seemed to get bored with it quickly and led me into her and Jasper's room.

"Do they do this often?" I asked. Alice sighed.

"Unfortunately. Bella's got a temper, and Edward keeps screwing up." Alice rolled her eyes.

"I HEARD THAT!" Alice and I both flinched as Edward yelled.

"No need to yell, Ed," Alice stated at normal volume. "DON'T CALL HIM THAT!" came Bella's shriek. Alice smiled and waited for half a minute. A door slammed. "And cue making-up."

It took a moment, but it clicked eventually. "EW!" I shrieked. Alice laughed and flopped onto her bed. "Vampires get over things that easily?" I asked. She simply shrugged, staring at the ceiling.

She patted the spot next to her and I laid down staring at the ceiling as well. "Bella will find something to yell at him for tomorrow or the next day." She shook her head. "Newlyweds." I couldn't help but giggle at her statement. She sat up suddenly and peered down at me. "So, how goes the search for a date."

"Well I've got more than enough invites," I muttered. She smiled.

"Any good prospects?"

I shrugged. "I'm not good with boys. The one boy I did pick was..." I shuddered. "Not good."

"You're going to have to clue me in, buddy," Alice urged. I looked at her pleadingly.

"No, it just ended badly. I can't choose them."

All of a sudden, Rosalie was at the door. "I heard girl-talk. I came as fast as I could." Alice and I laughed and Rose sat between the two of us. "Boys? Did you find a poor mortal to escort you?"

I shook my head. "Damn shame," Alice muttered. Rose looked confused for a moment as she heard noises.

"Are Edward and Bella...?" she trailed off. We nodded. "Ah. That's what hurt my eardrums." There was silence for a moment. "Okay, here's the goal. Tomorrow, at school, you will write down all of the boys that ask you to the dance. You will bring that list to us. We will debate, we will choose. End of story." Rosalie smiled. "Unless you want to go with your brother, because Edward said that he was thinking about asking you."

"MY BROTHER?!" I shrieked and they flinched, clutching their ears.

Alice shook her head. "No need to try and kill us. We're already dead." I let out a fake laugh and she smirked. Rose patted me on the back.

"I'm sorry you're hot," she told me, a twinkle in her eye. Alice giggled and I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. I honestly don't really care, you know. So long as I go to the dance, what does it matter who I go with?"

---

The next day at school was chaotic. By English, the list had grown to one and a half pages. Thankfully, Emmett was outside the classroom when I weeded my way out. I sighed in relief. "Thank God," I breathed and I walked up to him. He smiled down at me and we began walking.

"So... how many?" he asked. By now the entire Cullen family was aware of "The List". I rolled my eyes and handed him the list. He laughed as he read down the names. "Wow! He asked you out?" Emmett exclaimed, pointing to one of the names.

"Yeah. So?" I asked. Em just laughed at me.

"He's already got three girlfriends." I scoffed and took out a pen. Stopping for a moment, I scribbled off his name. I handed Emmett the list again. He scanned through the rest and flipped it over to the back. "Wow, there's more?" he asked. I nodded as he read through those names as well. He started laughing hysterically, and I knew what name he had come across.

"Shut up, Emmett," I grumbled. He kept laughing and laughing and I hit him lightly. He didn't seem to feel it at all. He kept laughing at me. I suppressed a growl and hit him hard. He stopped and grabbed his arm.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "That would have hurt!"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Serves you right, you big bully." There was silence for a moment before I hug-tackled him. "I'm sorry for hitting you, really." My arms could hardly fit around my brother's bulky body, but he hugged me back.

"S'okay, kiddo." I frowned and pulled out of the hug.

"Kiddo?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Even Bella's older than you. You're the baby now!" He pinched my cheek and I swatted his hand away.

"So even when I'm, like, fifty, I'll still be..." I shuddered. "Kiddo?" Emmett nodded happily. I rolled my eyes. "Well that's something to look forward to."

"Oh wait. Hold the phones. Was that... sarcasm?" He laughed at me and flopped an arm over my shoulders. "I do believe we are rubbing off on you, kiddo." I scrunched my nose at the nickname.

We spent the period wandering around campus at human speed. At first Emmett wanted to run, but I told him that we were being followed. Every once in a while, one of the boys from the group following us would come up and ask me to the dance. I'd tell them that I'd have to think about it. And then Emmett would glare at them and they would go away. We'd get a good laugh over that.

By the end of the period, the list had almost doubled. As we entered the cafeteria and found the rest of the family, I handed off the list to Rose and Alice. They scanned it and crossed off a few names first.

"Okay, now we officially judge," Rosalie announced as we took our spots at the table. The girls crowded around the list, Bella included, and we argued over who was "worthy" of dating me. Also who was stupid enough not to take notice of our oddities. Also who the family could stand.

As the list wound down to half a page, we came to a crossroads. "No, not him!" Rose snapped, taking the pen from Alice and crossing off his name. "He's too analytical. He might figure something out."

"I highly doubt that," Bella argued. Alice nodded.

"Does anyone care what _I_ think?" I asked, trying to force the pen from Rosalie.

"No," they all told me as they fought over another name on the list. Finally, Rose put down the pen and I snatched it up. Carefully, I pulled the list towards me and boxed the names of the few boys that I thought would be good escorts. Alice noticed first and yanked the list back.

The three other girls studied the boxed boys. "I think he would be good." Bella took the pen and circled a name. "He's just stupid enough not to ask questions, but not a complete dimwit. Plus he's kind of cute." Edward scowled at her. She smiled sheepishly. "You know, for a human." I looked at the boxed and circled name. Hmm...

"Alice, what do you think?" Bella asked after she carefully avoided a fight with Edward. Alice seemed to ponder this for a moment, and then her gaze went blank, and I knew that she was looking into the future.

"He's the one," she said as she came out of her reverie. She took the pen and crossed out the rest of the names. Rosalie frowned and looked like she was going to say something. "What now, Rosalie?" Alice asked, annoyed.

Rose sighed. "I suppose he could do." She looked thoughtfully at her food, like she wished she could eat it. "I'm going to get a head-start on my homework," she announced.

"Why?" Alice asked. "It's not like you sleep."

"I think I might go shopping tonight." She paused and stood up with her tray. "Alone." She swept away. I looked to Emmett and he simply shrugged, like he didn't care. Alice joined me in looking at Emmett. Finally, he gave in and went after her. It was his duty as a husband, anyway.

'What's with her?' I mouthed to Alice. She nodded her head towards the door and we swept our things up and walked away. We dumped our uneaten food in the trash and walked outside.

"She gets this way sometimes." Alice rolled her eyes. "She's got issues with humans; she wishes she was still one of them. Some good retail therapy will do her some good." I frowned. Rosalie was the epitome of beauty, but she wanted to be a human? That was interesting. "Anyway, we should find your future date. He'll want to know that he is, in fact, your date."

His name was Devon Preasley. With dark, curly hair and emerald eyes you could practically swim in, he was gorgeous... for a human. He was about six feet tall as far as I could tell, and that was not very good. He didn't look very muscular, but that might have just been his height. I started to think about if he was muscular at all, or if he really was scrawny. But I figured that he was just lanky due to the size. I hated to think what he would look like as a vampire, because he would just break hearts. In fact... he might even be hotter than Edward as a vampire. I shook my head at the thought. When had I been so picky? As a human, I was lucky if a boy even looked at me. And Devon... he was nice. He didn't deserve to be damned.

As Alice and I entered the main building, she left my side and spilt down a hallway. "Hey, where are you going?" I asked. She shrugged and laughed before walking off. I shook my head at her and turned around.

If I wasn't a vampire, I would have tripped and fallen on the floor. But, instead, I ran smack-into somebody and made them drop their books. For a split-second I stared at them. Devon Preasley, exactly who I was looking for. I kneeled down on the floor with him and started to gather his things. "I'm so sorry, Devon," I gushed as I started gathering the books.

"Oh it's fine, Dawn," he told me as we continued picking up the scattered books. I found one book in particular that sparked my interest.

"You're reading _The Outsiders_?" I asked him as I handed the book to him. He nodded and I smiled. "I love that book."

He smiled at me and my nonexistent heart melted. If it could do that... His smile was so beautiful, so meaningful that I stopped breathing. But I picked it up again in case he noticed. "So do I, this is about the tenth time I've read it." I giggled a little and we stood up.

"Oh, so..." I paused for a moment and thought. "If you were still wanting to... go to the dance... with me... I was just..." I sighed and just spat it out, "If the offer still stands, I'd love to go to the dance with you." I had another one of those "if-I-had-blood-I'd-blush" moments. They had become a habit when I look down at my shoes and wait for something to distract me.

And I was glad that I looked down at my shoes. I might have lost my speech if I had looked into his eyes. I could practically hear the smile in his words, "Yeah, the offer still stands." I smiled and looked up. "What time should I pick you up?"

I thought for a moment then shrugged. "I live about fifteen minutes from school, so maybe seven-thirty?" He nodded and smiled. I could stare at that smile for hours.

"So, hey, can I walk you to your next class?" he asked hopefully. He flashed the smile at me again. How could I say no?

"Sure, Devon," I replied. He made a motion to carry my books but I stopped him. "No, you've got enough books of your own."

We started down the long hallway towards the stairs. He chuckled and argued, "I can manage." He took my math books out of my hands and put them under his already large pile. I couldn't help but smile at him. He was so sweet. "So I heard through the grapevine that you're a singer," he teased.

I laughed. "I'm not a singer, I just sing." I looked over at him and realized that he was staring at me. I quickly looked down. "I'm not all that great. Not as great as people make me out to be."

"Well I don't believe you," he told me. I rolled my eyes playfully. "You'll just have to sing for me sometime." For some reason I was reminded of what Edward told me. Maybe there was more to my voice than I thought there was. But, it was only singing. Even if I was good-which I highly doubted-it was still only singing.

"Sure," I don't know why I said it, but I agreed to sing for him. I guess it was the smile. We walked towards the math wing talking about this and that. We started at music and then somehow moved onto food. That was hard for me to talk about, seeing as I couldn't really _have_ food. We reached the math wing. A few groups of people were milling about, signaling that class would start in a couple minutes. I saw Edward leaning against the door of our classroom.

Devon and I stopped as we reached my classroom. "Thanks for walking me," I said as he handed my books back to me.

"Anytime." He flashed another smile at me. "I'll see you later, Dawn." He walked away and I sighed and fell against the wall next to Edward.

He chuckled a bit and said, "Your date, I assume?"

"You know what happens when you assume," I snapped back.

He laughed and we went through the door and into the classroom.

**Awwww**** I just had to put Devon in there. Why did I name him Devon? Well, to know that you'd have to be my cousin. - ****Anywhoo****... There you go! Dawn's got a date! ****Ick****, I have got to get out of this fluff before I suffocate. Anyway, next chapter is the dance. What kind of trouble can our favorite vampires find there??? ****Lol****, anyway.**** After that chapter it'll pick up in the mystery. YAY!**


	6. Dancing

I weeded through the racks at the department store's dress section. I told them I would be perfectly happy wearing one of their old dresses, but they assured me that we all needed something new. So, that's how all of the Cullens ended up at the department store that day. The boys were long since done, and had retired to a music store, per Edward's request. The girls and I, however, were still looking at dresses.

"Oh, look at this!" I heard Alice exclaim. My head looked up and towards her. She was holding up a dress, a very pretty dress. I nodded happily and gave her a thumbs up. Bella was nodding enthusiastically and I saw Rose nod as well. Alice happily skipped off into the dressing room.

I continued looking through the racks. There were so many pretty ones, but there were never any that were just perfect for me. I had a few on my arm, but I was unsure about them. I was just waiting for the one that I would absolutely fall in love with to show up.

And then it did.

It was hanging on the rack outside the dressing room. Somebody had tried it on and didn't like it. But... it spoke to me, almost. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect. The dress was a pale blue, and it stopped about at the knee, I estimated. There was a see-through cover over it that had capped sleeves and layered frills at the skirt. The dress under the cover was spaghetti-strapped, and pretty simple, actually. Under the bust and over the cover was a small belt that was a slightly different shade of blue. And it was heaven in a dress. Obviously, Bella sensed that I was on to something and came over.

"Oh my," she breathed. I nodded, speechless. She reached over and flipped over the tag. She stepped back and looked at me. "It's your size." I exhaled slowly. Bella laughed at me and pushed me towards it.

"It's just too easy," I mumbled as I walked into the dressing room area.

"What's too easy?" I heard Alice from one of the rooms.

"She found this amazing dress, it's the last one, and it's her size," Bella answered for me.

Alice came out in her dress and took one look at it, "Ooo, pretty." She spun around in her dress. "What do you think?" she asked us. Her dress was very pretty. It was strapless and black. The top part of it was patterned and tight, and the bottom was loose and almost like satin. There was a black ribbon under the bust, and it fit Alice almost like heaven.

"I love it, Alice," Bella said, nodding her head. "You are so going to get it. If you don't, I'm getting it for you." Alice laughed as she spun around again.

"It is really lovely," I added.

Taking one last look at herself in the three-sided mirror, Alice said, "Okay then, I'm getting it!" She took off back into the dressing room. I hung the other dresses on one of the racks inside and went into the next one. As I started to put on the dress, I heard Bella sifting through the other dresses.

"Oh, this one's nice," I heard her say. "Dawn, do you mind if I try the red on one?"

"Go ahead," I told her as I pulled the dress on. I stared at myself in the mirror, adjusting the dress in a few places. It was gorgeous. I stepped out of the dressing room at the same time Rosalie stepped through the door.

"Your human will be happy," she told me, a smirk on her face. "You look amazing, Dawn." She held up one of the dresses for me to look at. "What do you think of this one?"

It was a black one, which would look good with her pale complexion and blonde hair. It had spaghetti-straps and looked like it would be tight. The skirt was a pencil-skirt that flared out at the bottom. The pattern on the dress was exquisite, and it looked like it would be right up Rosalie's alley. "I love it," I told her plainly. It looked like the two hours we had spent in the store did us some good.

Alice came out and took in the dress Rosalie was holding up. "Pretty," she said before forcing Rose into the dressing room she had just come out of. Then, she looked at me. She nodded happily. "You look great, Dawn," she told me. "You better get that dress."

"Oh, she has the dress on? Wait, don't go anywhere, I want to see it!" I heard Bella call from another dressing room. The door burst open and she came out with the red dress I had picked out on. "It's so pretty," she told me. She nodded. "You're getting it." It sounded more like a command.

Now, she looked amazing in the red dress. It was a halter dress, and rather simple. It was darker red, so it would look good with the vampire-skin. Like the rest of our dresses, she too had a belt under the bust. The belt had a red flower on it. The rest of the dress was rather simple. The skirt was cut diagonally at the bottom, and a see-through cover was over the skirt and went a bit further down that the actual skirt. The red looked really well with her hair, and it looked like we all found our dresses.

"You're getting that dress, Bella," Alice said and I nodded in agreement. "Rose, it honestly does not take you that long to get changed!" she suddenly exclaimed. I heard her laughter from the room and she came out.

"I'm not sure—" she started, but Bella interrupted her.

"Well, I am. You look amazing, as always. But that dress is perfect for you." Rosalie's lips curved into a smile at Alice's words and she returned to the dressing room.

I went into mine and quickly changed back into my other clothes. It was getting late, so we paid for our dresses, got the boys, and drove home. At first the driving like maniacs was kind of scary. But eventually I got used to it, because it's not like I could die. Heck, I wouldn't even get hurt.

---

It was "B" day today at school. I did _not_ like "B" days. The best part of the day was my off-period with Jasper, the only time I ever really got to spend with him. Other than that, I had Spanish without anyone, Acting without anyone, and History... without anyone. I hated when we had to partner up, because I never really made friends outside the Cullen family. Well, there was Cassie and Tiffany, but I hadn't talked to them since the first day of school. I didn't think they liked me ditching them to hang out with Emmett on my off-period. Nate talked to me during English on occasion, but nothing beside that.

And then there was Devon. Oh. My. Gosh. He was the sweetest thing, and it killed me that I couldn't be completely honest with him. I had kept him at arm's length since I agreed to go to the dance with him. He'd walk me to class sometimes, but I couldn't let him get close to me. He honestly didn't deserve the treatment I was giving to him, but he didn't seem to mind.

Spanish went by fairly quickly, and I was glad for that. I never liked Spanish to begin with. Acting was embarrassing as usual, but nothing outside of the normal embarrassment. Finally, it was time for lunch.

The Cullen table was silent, as usual. We normally didn't talk during lunch. When you have all the time in the world, talking can wait until we got to the house. Especially since some things we couldn't talk about in the proximity of humans. I could tell that some of them needed to go hunting, they would have to go after school today. Especially Bella. Every time a human passed by, she would tense up. When everyone had left and it was just Jasper and I, I turned to talk to him.

"Do you mind if we go to the library?" I asked him. "I need to do a little more research before History." He shrugged and we stood up and headed towards the library.

"What are you guys studying?" he asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "The Civil War. History was never my strong point." For some reason, Jasper laughed. I quirked an eyebrow at him. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"You're talking to somebody who fought in the Civil War," he told me. I gawked at him, amazed. I knew he was the second-eldest vampire in the family next to Carlisle, but I didn't know he actually _fought_ in the Civil War.

"What side?" I asked him.

"Confederates. I'm originally from Texas," he told me.

I raised my eyebrows. "That's cool... No, not really. You honestly fought for the Confederates?" I said in a low voice. Imagine what a human would have thought.

"Yeah, I know. I realize my mistakes now. But, remember that I also used to feed off of humans." He looked at me knowingly. We turned into the library and headed towards the history area. It didn't take long to find a few books. I started up towards the check-out desk, but stopped suddenly and sat down at a table with speed only a vampire could manage. Jasper followed suit and I quickly opened one of the books and hid my face in it.

"What's with the panic attack, Dawn?" Jazz asked me quietly. I saw him flinch as a girl passed us relatively closely. But I still felt myself relaxing a little. I made a note to thank him later.

"My date for the dance is up there," I hissed, nodding my head towards the desk. He took a look and I hit his arm. "Don't look," I chided. He chuckled lowly and I pulled the book closer to my face. I wasn't actually reading it, but a few words jumped out at me. I made a mental note to ask Jasper if he knew any of these people.

"Dawn?" I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath before lowering the book and smiling at Devon.

"Hi," I greeted. I stared into his eyes and almost lost everything. I saw Jasper snickering in the corner of my eye. "Oh, Devon this is Jasper. Jasper, Devon." The two shook hands and I noticed that Jasper wasn't breathing. "Uh... Devon, do you want to... er... take a walk with me?" I asked him quickly, my eyes straying to Jasper every once in a while.

"Uh... sure." I stood up quickly and waved goodbye to Jasper. The books had completely left my mind as Devon and I walked out of the library together. I felt his hand entwine in mine, and I also felt him flinch at the coldness. I started to pull my hand back, but he only held it tighter. Somehow, it felt good to know my shortcomings, so to speak, didn't bother him.

"So, your brother doesn't mind you ditching him?" he asked me as we walked slowly the school.

I shook my head. "No, he's probably glad to be rid of me. If you haven't noticed, we all like our alone-time." Devon laughed a little.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I see you guys in the cafeteria," he said. I gulped. "By the way," he started, "why don't you all eat anything?"

I averted my eyes to anywhere but his. "Well, uh, despite us all telling her that she's beautiful, Rosalie is on this weird diet. I mean, she's not anorexic or anything. But, she doesn't eat lunch. Every day she buys food and we hope that she's going to eat it but she never does. We don't either, because she's got a temper and we don't think she likes us eating in front of her. We all eat at dinner, and we make her eat as well. She doesn't really eat breakfast, but if she didn't eat dinner, Esme would go crazy." I knew it sounded far-fetched, but Devon laughed anyway.

"That's quite a story," he said.

I shrugged. "We're a complicated family, so to speak."

He swung our still entwined hands as we continued down the hallway. "Do you remember your birth family?" he asked.

"Kind of," I whispered. "I had a brother. He..." I paused. "He passed away with my parents," I lied. "I don't remember them that well," I stated quickly. It was too hard to think about it, especially seeing my brother almost every day at school.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, squeezing my hand. I cleared my throat and held back the tears that were trying to force themselves forward. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, stopping and looking into my eyes. "You're dead cold. Do you want to go see the nurse?"

I shook my head. "I'm always this cold, don't worry." I smiled at him. "I'm fine, I promise."

He looked skeptical, but said, "Okay." We walked for a bit in silence before he apologized, "I'm sorry for bringing up your family." I titled my head up towards him. He looked down at me with his gorgeous, gorgeous eyes. "I know it must be hard for you."

I forced myself to look at my feet and away from his eyes. "It-it's fine, really. The Cullens are probably the best family I've lived with." I smiled. "We're the most dysfunctional, crazy, amazing family together. We're like a real family, you know?" I gushed to him. I just felt so comfortable with him... even if there were things I could never tell him.

"That's fantastic, Dawn. Really," he said, squeezing my hand again. We walked in silence again, and I kept having to look down at our hands. I couldn't believe that he hadn't let go yet, and I just had to keep making sure he was still holding on. "Hey, can ask you a question?" he finally said.

"You can ask me anything." Lie. There were some things that I couldn't answer.

"I know we haven't actually had a date yet, but I was wondering if you'd like to go to the movies with me sometime?" I paused. Could I actually go on a date with him? One date couldn't hurt. At least he didn't ask me to dinner. That'd be awkward.

"Uh... sure. I'd love to," I told him, flashing a smile up towards him. He smiled back at me with the smile that I had grown to love. I looked down shyly and we continued through the school. I could see people eying us with envy, but I didn't care to be self-conscious at the moment. I was flying and for a fleeting moment, all my worries disappeared.

But they came back soon enough.

---

I stood in front of the mirror with anxiety. I was actually going on a date! A date! With Devon! I adjusted my dress once more and Alice appeared behind me, smiling. "Don't fret, dear," she told me, "it's going to be fun."

"How do you know?" I asked her, prying my eyes from the mirror.

She shrugged. "Just a feeling." We both laughed at what she meant and walked out of the bedroom we had been getting ready in. I nervously glanced at the clock. It was 7:27, three more minutes. Alice ran to Jasper's side and the two looked so happy together. I couldn't help but sigh at the couple. But then the doorbell rang. I checked the clock again. It was 7:28, was he actually early? I rushed to the door and pulled it open. He was early, how sweet!

"Hey Dawn, I hope you don't mind me being early," he gushed. He looked at my dress. "Wow... you look..." He couldn't quite piece together the words. "A-amazing," he finally finished. I smiled and had another blush moment.

"Thanks, you look great too," I replied, looking into his eyes. His perfect, green eyes... God, I could lose myself in them. I turned around and waved to Alice and Jasper. They smiled at me and I stepped out of the house and closed the door. He held the door to his car open for me and I slid in, feeling like a modern-day princess. He hurried around to the other side and got in. We talked animatedly in the car ride to the school and, soon enough, we were there. He held the door open again for me and helped me out.

I couldn't help but feel guilty. I wanted so desperately to open my heart to him, but I couldn't. There were things I couldn't say, things he couldn't know. I couldn't put myself, or him for that matter, into that position. We walked into the dance and I knew that dances were hell for the Cullens. All the different smells greeted my nose and I wasn't even tempted by them. But, I saw the six of them dancing out there anyway. They were so graceful dancing that I couldn't help but be jealous.

"Hey, how did they beat us here?" Devon asked. I shifted my eyes to him.

"Edward drives like a maniac," I said simply. "An hour-long trip for... people, would just be twenty minutes for him and his Volvo." We laughed and he led me to a table. He waved to a few people sitting down, but made no motion to talk to them. The table was a wreck, it didn't even look like a table anymore. It was a heap of jackets, purses, and shoes. We dropped ours on top of them. He slipped his hand into mine again and we walked towards the dance floor. We stood there for a moment and I noticed no one was dancing.

"How come nobody wants to dance?" I asked, looking from everyone else in the room to the Cullens and back again.

"I think their jealous of your family," he told me with a laugh.

I rolled my eyes and squeezed his hand, leading him into the blank area. "Come on, there's no reason to be shy!" He laughed at me and we started dancing out in the open. I felt the eyes of my family taking us in and I saw Alice and Jasper go up to the DJ. As I heard "Can't Touch This" begin, I laughed.

"What is it?" Devon asked loudly, even though there was no need. I could hear him even if he whispered. Alice, Rosalie, and Bella were at our sides in a second.

"Devon, this is Alice, Rose, and Bella!" I yelled at him over the music. The girls and I started dancing like idiots and our dates stared at us like we were crazy. We formed our own four-person mosh pit. Emmett was quick to join our little pit and Devon jumped in soon afterwards. After much coaxing on Alice's and Bella's part, Edward and Jasper joined in as well. Our dancing eventually made a few more brave people start dancing and soon we were the middle of a massive mosh pit. The song stopped, but we continued dancing anyway.

A few songs later, I was suffocating slowly, and I could tell most (if not all) of the Cullens wanted to get out of the there... _fast_. I grabbed Devon's hand and started weaving my way through the pit. "I'm thirsty!" I yelled at him, which was a complete lie. Well, at least I wasn't thirsty in the way he thought of the word. We walked over to the refreshments table and he grabbed two cups of water. He downed his and I quickly splashed mine on the ground before raising the cup to my lips. Hopefully he didn't notice. If he did, well, he didn't say anything. We threw away our cups and he took my hand. I wasn't sure where he was taking me, but I figured it out when I saw the open gym door.

"You having fun?" he asked me when we reached the outside terrace of the cafeteria. We walked to the edge and I leaned against the railing overlooking the amphitheatre.

I nodded my head happily. "Are you?" I asked.

He nodded as well. We stared out at the dark school in silence for a moment. Suddenly, he stated, "Okay, game time. Twenty questions." I looked over at him with a crooked smile.

"Okay, you first," I said. We took a seat at one of the outside tables.

"Okay, birthday?"

"July twenty-seventh."

"Favorite book?"

"_The Outsiders_."

"Why, because the Cullens are outsiders?" he asked in a joking manner. However, I didn't get the joking manner.

I shook my head. "No, what makes you say that? Do you think that we don't want to be outsiders?" I snapped. "We choose to be outsiders! You people should be happy that we're outsiders, you have no idea what we could—" I clamped a hand over my mouth. I had already said too much. I took off the hand and whispered, "I'm sorry. I... overreacted." The door to the outside swung open quickly and I saw the entire Cullen family appear there.

_Please just go,_ I thought. _Please, I just overreacted to something he said. I'm fine, honestly._ Devon looked from me to them and back again. It must have looked odd. I stared at Edward, talking to him in my head. _I didn't say anything. He won't figure it out. _Edward nodded to everyone else and they disappeared.

"What was that about?" Devon asked me.

I shook my head at him. "Nothing. And that counts as one of your questions!" I exclaimed. "You only have sixteen now!" I joked.

---

The rest of the night was fun. Devon and I eventually strayed back to the dance. After a while, Devon asked if I wanted to sit down and I agreed, even though I could have kept dancing. We took seats near the table with our things on it. I got to ask him my twenty questions, and we were even then. I had the most fun I've ever had, even when I was a human.

After hours of dancing and talking, Devon and I were finally driving home. Neither of us were tired, and it seemed like we didn't want the night to end. But as the Cullen house loomed in front of us, I knew it was time to go. I began to open the door but Devon shot out of the car and ran to the other side to open it for me.

As we walked up the sidewalk to the door, I told him, "You really don't have to walk me to my door, you know." He simply shrugged and I smiled. "It's really nice, though," I added as an afterthought. "This whole night was really nice. I had fun." We reached the door and paused for a moment.

I knew what was happening, and it couldn't happen. Devon started to lean in and I quickly evaded him. I side-stepped him and opened the door in one, fluid motion. "Thanks, I'll see you later," I mumbled quickly. "Bye Devon." I closed the door and leaned against it, sighing.

"Close call," Edward muttered to me as he and Bella passed on their way upstairs.

I scoffed at him. "You're funny," I told him, my words dripping with sarcasm. But, he was right. It was a close call. I knew I had to push Devon away. The one thing I didn't know was how to do it.

**Yikes. Okay, so this will be the last filler chapter, promise! I'm writing the seventh chapter right now, and it gets serious from then on. I'm launching into the actual plot and it's going to get good. But poor Devon, yeah? I'm being so mean to him... poor human. Review and I'll update faster.**


	7. Tears

The Devon Dilemma was slowly becoming worse and worse. The date for the movies was set, and it was looming in the distance. I couldn't get away from him! He'd show up almost the second I left the company of the Cullens. I had a feeling he was slightly afraid of them because he wouldn't talk to me if there were two or more of them around me. He seemed unfazed by the blatant denial that I gave him after the dance and kept talking to me. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be happy or sad about that fact. Rosalie was warning me and would not take the "I-told-you-so" smile off her face. The only people who seemed remotely supportive of Devon were Edward and Bella, for obvious reasons.

But he was still amazing. I could feel myself starting to like him, but I couldn't. I tried my best to suppress my feelings but everything went to dust the second he smiled at me.

---

"So what's this movie about, anyway?" I asked Devon as we stepped into the theater. We scooted past another couple and sat in the middle of the row.

We took our seats and he replied, "Oh, it's a horror movie. I think it's got vampires in it." I stiffened and he looked at me oddly. "Oh, wait. No, I'm thinking of a different one. This is just about a serial killer."

"And I let you take me to a scary movie, why?" I joked sarcastically.

He laced his fingers through mine and told me, "Squeeze my hand if you get scared." I smiled at him and we both turned our attention to the screen as the previews started. The movie itself was rather odd. It went from making me laugh to making me scream and squeeze his hand tight. I guess my inability to watch scary movies followed me. But the scariest part was feeling a tap on my shoulder.

"Dawn, Dawn!" I heard. The sound was so quiet, but I could hear it. I doubted Devon could, however. I turned and came face to face with Alice. "Dawn, you need to come with me." I shook my head and nodded towards Devon. "I don't care, I _saw_ something. You're mother's going to kill herself." My eyes bulged and I turned back to the movie.

I thought for a moment then leaned over to Devon. "Devon, I'm so sorry. I have to go." He looked at me oddly and I turned around to look at Alice again. "It's a family emergency," I told him. Which was partly true. "I'm so sorry," I whispered, letting go of his hand and rushing out of there. As soon as we left the theater, Alice and I grabbed hands and took off as fast as our enhanced speed would take us. I had no idea where we were going. But as we approached the large cliff, my memory jogged. My mother had pointed them out to me as we were in the car. She said that one day we'd all go there and see the view.

I was surprised to see the entire Cullen family gathered there. I saw my mother, a long figure stumbling along towards the cliff. Alice let my hand go. As fast as I could, I ran after her. I ran up the winding hill, praying that God could stall her for just a half a minute more. It would only take me that long to reach her. Sooner than I expected, I was at the top. I saw her, and knew she was drunk.

"Mo-Francesca!" I yelled, attempting to get her attention. She turned around at the edge and stared at me. "Come, step away from the cliff." My mother only sadly looked at me, a simple stranger. She let a tear slip, and then she fell backwards and off the cliff. I ran to the edge and peered down as she hit the ground. Sadness overwhelmed me. She was gone... I couldn't convince her to keep her life. There was no way she was alive, the cliffs were much too high. It felt like I had my life taken away from me again. I was aware of another presence. The tears wouldn't stop flowing, so I looked up and saw a blurred figure of Edward staring at me oddly. "What?" I snapped at him, trying to wipe the tears away.

"You... You're crying," he stated simply. In a split second, the rest of the family appeared. They all stared at me like Edward was doing. Esme stepped closer to me and knelt down next to me. She wiped away my tears and kissed my forehead.

"It's going to be okay, darling," she whispered in my ear as I pressed myself to her in a hug. We kneeled there for a moment, me crying and her simply providing much needed comfort. I don't know how, but they somehow managed to get me into the car without me noticing. The tears never ceased, but the sobbing came and went. That first night was the hardest. Every couple of hours, I would completely break down and start sobbing. At that moment, somebody would rush in and comfort me. But every time somebody looked at my tears, they seemed confused.

Finally, Carlisle came through my door when I seemed to put myself together for good. We sat in silence for a few moments while he simply studied me. In a fatherly gesture, he patted my hand. "Dawn... there's something you should know," he told me in a quiet voice. Although I was pretty sure that everyone had tuned their ears to our conversation. "Vampires don't normally cry." I blinked. So, now I was even more of a freak? I was the freak of the freaks. That was absolutely fabulous to know. "But, that's not it."

And for the next half hour, he explained to me about the Volturi. He told me about what had happened to Edward and Bella, and that Aro had contacted him and they were coming to see me. He left me in stunned silence. The most powerful vampire family in all the world was coming... to see me. "Carlisle?" I whispered. "We... we can't let them near the town." He nodded.

"They won't be coming anywhere near the town. Alice and Rosalie are going to take you to a place devoid of humans." At that, the two of them came through the door. "Please understand this, whatever you do... Don't make them angry. They can do unspeakable things, and our family is nothing compared to the guard they have." I nodded, understanding completely. "And... it's your choice to make," he finished on a sad note. I didn't know what he was talking about and I didn't get a chance to ask because he left the room.

Alice pulled me off the bed with relative ease. "Time to go," she told me plainly and we all took off towards her car. We piled in, me in the backseat again. But, before I could shut the door, Edward and Bella were sitting next to me. "Edward, Bella, get out!" Alice scolded, turning around in her seat. "You have your own car!"

"Yes, well, everyone else is following in the Jeep and Bella doesn't like the Jeep, so we thought that we could all carpool." Edward smiled at her.

She rolled her eyes and started the car. "I swear, if you two don't stay hidden, I _will_ hurt you," she muttered angrily. "She's got enough to worry about, and I don't want a certain somebody who reads minds jumping out. Plus, they already want you two for the family! Can't you see it would be very _bad_ if you two suddenly popped up out of nowhere? Don't answer that question," she added as an afterthought as Bella attempted to open her mouth. Even without Jasper's power, I could sense the tense air circulating in the car. Alice was pushing one hundred, Rosalie looked as if she was in a trance, and Bella was squeezing Edward's hand rather tightly. Her grip could shatter a CPU, but Edward seemed unaffected. The rest of the ride of completely silent.

The car came to a screeching halt as we were on the edge of some rocks. Everyone emptied out of the car and Alice came to my side. She grabbed my hand without a word and we were running. With ease, we scaled a rock wall and beyond through a field. There was a small wood here, and we crossed it from end to end in a matter of seconds. We reached another clearing and Alice stopped us. Edward was standing there and in a second, Bella and Rosalie had joined us. The four of them backed away from me. "You have to stay there, in the open," Rosalie told me calmly. "We'll be in here." The four of them disappeared into the wood.

I was alone, and vulnerable. I'm sure I looked pathetic, because I had only recently stopped crying. But when I saw the whole group of them practically materialize before me, I freaked. My body tensed and I shook with fear. My anxiety was eased within a few seconds, but it didn't go away completely. The sheer size of the group frightened me. Three of them stepped forward, and they seemed to be the ones in charge. One in particular stepped towards me.

"Good evening, Dawn," he said. I could tell he was staring at my eyes.

"Hello," I said, weakly. Now was not the best time. "Are you... Aro?" I asked.

He nodded towards me. "I see that Carlisle has told you of me?" I nodded. He only told me of Aro, so I figured that he must be the most important. And as I saw it, he was. "May I?" he asked, gesturing towards my wrist. I looked confused for a moment, but then remembered his power. I nodded and he grabbed my wrist. I felt my memories flooding through my brain. Aro nodded a few times, and then the picture of my mother falling off the cliff flashed in front of me.

I gasped and snatched my hand away from him, backing up. He seemed oddly amused. The thought burned in my mind and I felt the familiar sensation of tears coming on. Aro and the other two who had stepped forward moved closer, as if to see if I was really crying. When they were satisfied, they leaned back and another vampire stepped forward. "Caius," Aro introduced.

The vampire looked the oldest, although looks could be deceiving. He had white hair and I got the first look into his eyes. The eyes that stared back at me through the sockets were nowhere near human. They were dark red that only came from feeding on human blood. I felt more out of place than normal in this group of human-killing vampires. I wanted desperately to run to the comfort of someone... My mother... Esme... Devon.

"Dawn, we are here..." The words faded through my mind as I stared into each every vampire's eyes. They were all red. As my eyes met with the third vampire who stepped forward, he grabbed Aro's hand. Caius's words went from focused to almost as if they were not there at all as I watched Aro and the other interact. "Volterra is a wonderful city, and we would most like it if you joined us there."

The words hit me like a ton of bricks. They wanted me to leave... They wanted me to be a part of the most powerful vampire family in the world. What do I say? _'Thanks, but no thanks?'_ Do I want to say no? My inner turmoil was interrupted as Aro grabbed my wrist again, this time without asking.

"Interesting... Interesting..." he murmured. There were flashes of Devon and I and I knew he was reading my feelings for him. If only I _knew _what those feelings were. But as I watched the re-runs of my memories, I realized there was virtually nothing here for me. Sure, I'd miss Alice and Rosalie terribly, and I would feel guilty about just up and leaving. But... what else was there for me? Wouldn't I still be a vampire? Wouldn't I still be a different vampire? No matter what country I was in, I would still the blue-eyed vampire who cried. And no matter what country I was in, Devon and I could never be together. There was nothing here for me except pretending and denial of who I really was.

I pulled my hand away gently. "Fine," I whispered, low enough so the Cullens wouldn't have heard. "How much time?"

"A day," Caius told me. I nodded and Aro smiled. I couldn't help but smile back, even though I wasn't happy. I didn't think I'd ever be happy, but I wasn't technically alive. That was enough to depress me. The Volturi and company departed quickly and I ran to where I knew the Cullens would be. They stared at me and I quickly pushed it all from my mind so Edward wouldn't read it. But that wouldn't stop Alice from seeing it.

And I knew she had from the moment I saw her face. "I'm not sure," I told them and we ran back to the cars in silence. I had to carefully guard my thoughts from Edward, and I could tell that he knew that I was hiding things from him. The silence was thick in the car as we drove at an insane speed towards the house. I left for my room without a word and just sat for a long while, not thinking of anything. For the first time, I was happy that I had school the next day. Because it would be my last day.

---

When we reached the school that day, Alice kept looking at me, like she was trying to figure out if I had made up my mind yet. Although I was pretty sure she knew that I had, but I guess she just didn't want to believe it. I wasn't going to be the one to burst her bubble just yet. I went to homeroom and English like a normal student.

The second Emmett and I started to take our regular walk, I knew it was a mistake. "So, made up your mind yet?" he asked me the second we started away from the rest of the people on their off-periods.

"No, Emmett," I stated simply. "I just don't know, okay? In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really the happiest person right now," I muttered through gritted teeth. He obviously understood, and let it alone for a while. But, then almost five minutes later, he asked it again.

"Emmett!" I shrieked, hitting him on the arm. "I don't know, now drop it." We continued through the school, not talking at all. Then, I heard my name from behind. I turned and saw Devon coming towards us. "Oh dear God..." I mumbled and I caught Emmett smirking.

"Made up your mind yet?" he asked before departing. Devon approached me and I smiled weakly at him.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

I was confused for a moment, but then I remembered the date. "Oh yeah!" I exclaimed, slapping a fake smile on my face. "False alarm."

"Oh, that's good." I nodded and my smile fell. I knew that I was leaving. I couldn't leave without a goodbye, that was just cruel.

"Listen, Devon," I started, staring at my feet. "I-I'm going to live with a new family." It was NOT a lie. "And I probably won't be coming back." I bit my lip.

"Where are you going?" he finally asked, after a moment of silence.

I thought for a moment. "L.A." That was a lie.

"But... why?" he asked. "I thought you were happy with the Cullens!"

I bit my lip and shuffled my feet a little. "There are things I can't tell you," I stated simply. NOT a lie. "Reasons for things that I do. Or don't do. Reasons for being me."

"Dawn, you can tell me anything," Devon tried. He took a step towards me, but I moved away a few steps.

I shook my head. "I'm not... like you. You and me, we're world apart." NOT a lie.

"It doesn't have to be that—"

"Yes, it does," I interrupted. "You have no idea. And, so long as I'm concerned, you never will." I sighed and dared to look into his eyes. "I have to go. I don't think I'm coming back. You would do best to just forget about me."

I began to walk away. "Dawn," he cried and I stopped.

"Devon, just let me go. Remember," I started, "nothing gold can stay." It killed me, because I knew it would break his heart. "Stay gold, Ponyboy," I whispered, almost inaudibly, but I was sure he heard me. Before I could say something I would regret, I walked out of his sight. I couldn't wait for the day to pass. So I ran.

When I was at the Cullen house, I went to my room and grabbed all the clothes that I could fit into a suitcase. Thankfully, at the moment everyone was out of the house. I would hop the next flight to Volterra. I couldn't stay here any longer, especially after seeing my brother. His face was enough to kill me again. As I finished up my packing, I noticed a folder on my bed. I whipped it up into my hands and read the beautiful writing on it.

_'Don't think you fooled me for a moment. Sing this for the Volturi, I'm sure they'll be interested._

_-- Edward'_

I pulled some sheet music out of the folder and looked at it for a moment. I shoved the music back in the folder and hesitated for a moment before shoving it into my suitcase. Without even bothering to leave a note, I ran my way to the airport. Feeling especially guilty, I used the credit card Carlisle had given me to buy my ticket. But, he must have seen it coming. Edward would have told him. As I settled down into the airplane's seat, I felt the sadness wash over me.

But I had to move on and get over myself. It was what was best for everyone... including me. As the plane reached cruising altitude, I put in my earphones for my MP3 player. I hit shuffle and closed my eyes.

_Que sera, sera._

_Whatever we'll be, we'll be._

_The future's not ours to see._

_Que sera, sera._

**Sorry, this one's a little shorter than usual. Still. It's over 3,000 words and took me three days to write. So it better be good. XD Anywhoooo... Yeah, sorry for Dawn being stupid. But she doesn't want to hurt Devon and she doesn't want to hurt herself, so she's removing herself before things get too bad. Plus, she just suffered a very bad emotional blow. And they offered her power and a place to belong. So yeah. I'm actually not sorry. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Trust me... it gets interesting in the next chapter. Uh-huh. I'll try to get it out before I go on vacation, but I'm not making promises.**


	8. Hunting

_Two Months Later_

I danced my way towards the forest I had begun to love so much. A tune was stuck in my head, and I could not get it out. The song had quickly become my favorite of all the songs I've heard. Of all the songs I sang, I sang this one the most. It was relatively old, but I loved it all the same.

"_Que sera, sera_

_Whatever we'll be, we'll be_

_The future's not ours to see_

_Que sera, sera_"

I sang quietly to myself. I made my way into the forest and immediately caught the scent of blood. The song was completely gone from my mind as I let myself into the hunt. Living with the Volturi meant not having anyone to hunt with, but I didn't mind. And neither did they. I was better at luring humans than anyone else, thanks to my talent. I finally figured it out a few days into my stay in Italy. My voice draws people to me. It's like the fishing rod and the bait, all in one.

As my hunting winded down, the song came back into my head. I knew there couldn't be any humans in here, so I sang out a little louder this time.

"_When I was just a little girl_

_I asked my mother, what will I be?_

_Will I be pretty?_

_Will I be rich?_

_Here's what she said to me_"

I heard a disturbance in the bushes near me. Scared, I whirled around. "Who's there?" I called. There was some more disturbances and somebody who I never expected stepped through. "Edward?" I asked quietly, squinting at him, even though I knew it was him. Edward had a certain quality to him, and he was unmistakably Edward.

"Hey Dawn, fancy finding you here," he said simply.

I opened my mouth, but closed it again. "What..." I shook my head. His golden eyes stared down at me... almost like he cared. I looked away and stared at my feet. "Are you here to take me back?" I asked in a low voice. "Do you think that I'll go with just a few words?" My voice gained strength. My head whipped up and I advanced upon him. "Did you think that you could convince me? Did you honestly think that I would leave the Volturi? I've been more at home here than anywhere else!" I turned away from him but couldn't make myself walk away. "Go away, if that's why you came. Because I don't want to hear it."

"And if I didn't come because of that?" he asked me. I wrinkled my brow and turned to face him again.

"Why did you come then?" I replied.

He shrugged and spoke again, "I have my reasons."

"Like what?" I persisted.

He laughed at me. "Bella left me, if you really want to know." I stared at him, slack-jawed. I had heard stories about them. How Edward killed himself because he thought she was dead. I couldn't believe that this was the same person. That he just _laughed_. He was smiling and seemed in relatively good spirits. "Why am I not sad?" he asked, and I remembered he could read my mind. "She left me about a week after you left. I kind of just left when I realized that she meant what she said and wasn't coming back. So I wandered a little bit. I went to New York, but then I decided to pay a visit to the Volturi."

"I'm not going to let them kill you," I stated quickly. "I'm not going to let _you_ ask them to kill you."

"I know," he told me. "I wasn't going to. I came to join. They expressed their interest in me the last time I saw them. Hopefully they'll be happy with just me and not Bella."

I looked up at him and saw sadness right through his eyes. "You're doing this for her. So they won't come after her." He turned away and started walking out of the forest.

"Maybe," he said in a low voice before running off.

**Okay, so I'm leaving on vacation tomorrow and I won't be able to write anything for about two weeks. So, I figured that I would finish off the scene I had been working on and post it up. It's not even 1,000 words and that depresses me. I like my 3,000 word chapters. But I don't have time to write out one of those. –sigh- I hope you all like this little chapter and don't kill me for having Bella leave Edward. She had good reason, not to worry. But you'll have to wait to find out what that good reason is! D**

**Anyway, I'll try and get the 9****th**** chapter up as quickly as I can when I get back. Promise!**


	9. Thump

The Volturi really had no use for me unless I was hunting for them. That made my life more mundane than I liked. I never complained, not once, that I was bored. It wasn't my place to say so. I idled my time away chatting with anyone who was near. I quickly bonded with the only human there, the receptionist, and talked with her often. We would talk about mundane things like clothing and fashion or she would ask me what it was like to be changed. I tried to give an accurate description of the pain that ripped through your body, but I don't think I quite did it justice.

Otherwise, I would observe. I soon learned the habits of many members. Patterns and order were things I understood, things that I liked. Every once in a while, I would permit myself to stray back to my human memories and to the tight schedule I had clung to so much.

But every time I did that, it only made it harder. The pain of not knowing why I was different drove me mad. I wanted to know, wanted to know so badly. I knew there was nothing to be done, but I wanted to know nonetheless. I was restless, and I ended up locking myself up in a room for days. The worst, I remember vividly, was when I cried nonstop for a week. No amount of persuading could get me out of the room. It wasn't until I felt the unbearable tug of thirst that I stopped and pulled myself together.

Tears were no stranger to me, but the Volturi seemed surprised every time that my eyes were rimmed in red. But, nobody pressed the topic. I was volatile in their eyes. They viewed me as a ticking time bomb of emotions that they did not want to poke the wrong way.

But, more than anything, I had a strange yearning to know what was going on. Ever since Edward's reappearance, my thirst (forgive the pun) for knowledge of what was going on back in Astoria became ever stronger. I found that simply looking at Edward and his haunting good looks reminded me of the ripple I had caused when I pulled myself from the life. Had I been involved with Bella's reasoning behind leaving Edward? How was Esme, the mother I had always wanted, coping with losing – not one – but three of her "children", in a sense. But... most importantly... Did Devon miss me?

That was the one that hurt the most. I felt childish, even. Of course he didn't. He had probably moved on. It had been more two months. To a vampire, that was no time at all. But to a human? Two months could change everything.

It was November 31st, and things were going smoothly. I had gone through the week without crying, and that did not go unnoticed by almost everyone around me. I was... almost happy. As happy as I had ever been since I was changed. I couldn't pinpoint the source of my happiness, but I think it had something to do with getting over things. Aimlessly, I had wandered the halls of the winding, secret castle that night. This walking seemed to do me good. Every time I passed through, I saw something different. I was very observant, but I seemed to miss things in the impressive castle all the time. I ambled out onto the balcony that I often visited to be alone.

But I wasn't alone.

As I passed through the double doors and out into the chilly night air, Edward turned around to meet my gaze. He had not wavered from his "vegetarian" ways, and his uncannily beautiful eyes, still glowing gold, smiled at me. "Hey," he whispered.

I smiled in return and leaned against the railing next to him. There was comfortable silence between us as we stared up into the night sky. The sky was clear here, unlike the cloudy sky over Astoria. I could see a million – maybe more – stars winking back at me. I must have gasped at the sight because Edward chuckled lowly. "Why are you out here?" I finally asked.

He stared up at the sky. "It reminds me of Bella." I pursed my lips and looked away from him and back to the sky. My thoughts must have betrayed me because he spoke again. "It's calming, to know that she's under this same sky... Wherever she is."

"Is it hard for you?" I asked in a reverent whisper. It was an unnecessary question, for we both knew the answer. Maybe it would help if it was voiced, though. Ease the pain, or maybe come to acceptance with it.

He nodded slightly. "Harder than anything else in life. Harder than thinking she was dead." Edward looked away from the sky and down to the streets. "Knowing that she's out there somewhere... unprotected..."

"She'll be fine," I assured him, but I instantly knew I had said the wrong thing. A thousand emotions flashed through Edward's face, but within seconds he was back to his normal, emotionless face.

"You don't know... You couldn't know." He left it at that and we resumed looking at the sky. "When I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me. And you make everything alright," he whispered to the sky, but I knew that he was talking to Bella.

The words struck a chord in my mind, seeming oddly familiar. I analyzed them carefully. Had he said that before? No, no, I would have remembered that. All of a sudden, it clicked. And I laughed. I laughed, and he joined me. We laughed for almost a minute, forgetting the reverence we had just held. "Those are Train lyrics!" I choked out, after calming down a bit from my laughing fit.

He smiled, but it fell and he looked back to the sky. "They fit." There was silence once more and I resumed staring at the sky. I thought of my father and my brother, for the first time since the first week. I refused to let the tears get to me, however. I held my breath and swallowed the lump in my throat. Losing both mom and I must have been hard, but I knew that they were strong.

Edward began humming a tune familiar to me. I attempted to place it in my mind, for I had heard it before. "The song," he answered for me, "that I left for you." And I remembered, just like that. The song in the folder, it had been that tune. "It's the song that I composed for... for Bella." His voice cracked at her name. He cussed under his breath and left the balcony, returning to the castle.

The streets of Volterra were empty. There was dead silence. I could hear everything, the slightest shift in the atmosphere would register in my brain. And I heard it, loud and clear.

A thump.

It was a sound that no vampire could muster, not in their wildest dreams. The second I heard it, I knew what it was. The beat of a human heart. I looked around, half expecting to see a human somewhere nearby. But, somehow, I knew that there was only one place where the sound could have come from. And that was the empty shell that I was now. I waited in anxious anticipation – half thinking it was my imagination. The noise did not come again. I quickly dismissed it as a figment of my imagination and left the balcony after stealing one last glance at the night sky.

---

There was the rare occasion that somebody broke the rules of vampire society. On those rare occasions, everyone was welcomed to watch the public torture of the vampire. I would not have gone if I didn't have to talk to Aro, Caius, or even Marcus. The thump had not appeared again, but the memory rang out loud and clear.

I winced as I watched Jane smile at her victim before he started screaming. He begged for the to kill him, just to get it over with. I was extremely close to walking out, the sight too unbearable to understand. The black eyes of Volturi watched the victim writhe on the ground, begging. I knew they would have to feed soon. Jane let up her power and there was dead silence for one second.

And that was all it took.

The thump sounded again in my chest and I felt it this time. All heads were on me in a second, the vampire on the ground completely forgotten. I suddenly felt uncomfortable... Under their thirsty gazes, I knew that if I had a single drop of blood in my body, they would jump at me.

Edward was at my side in a second, and that was all it took. Chaos erupted and it wasn't until Edward had tugged at my hand and started running that I was fully aware of what I had to do.

I had to leave. The one place I felt most at home, and I had to go. I cussed at myself inside my head, not missing the few glances Edward threw at me. Why had I been so different? What had gone wrong? Why in the hell was my heart all of sudden beating? I knew that I had to know. I knew that this was mystery that I had to solve, alone. Why was I different? I prayed that I would know soon.

I had no idea what Edward was taking me until we were standing in front of the counter, buying plane tickets. "Two tickets for the next flight to Oregon." And I knew. He was taking me back... I couldn't call it home. But back to Astoria, at least. Our plane left in a few hours and we used our time pursuing the books in the small shop in the airport. There was nothing there that caught my attention, so I settled for a magazine.

Edward and I found two seats facing the floor to ceiling windows that looked out onto the runway. He did not sit down and passed his time looking out the window, watching the planes take off and land. I knew that he was not thinking about the planes at all. Even if I couldn't read his mind, his expression was enough to give him away.

His phone vibrated in a circle on the seat next to me. On the small window, Alice's name flashed at me. Barring my teeth, I reached for it and flipped it open. "Hello Alice."

"Dawn, OH MY GOSH, IT'S DAWN!" She yelled the last part, but it was unnecessary. I heard voices in the background and Alice's voice chatting quickly with them. "I'm putting you on speaker!" she declared and the voices became more dominate. I heard Rosalie and Esme talking to me, saying that they missed me and couldn't wait to see me. Carlisle was there to, and Jasper and Emmett. I felt a tugging inside of me, and I knew it was guilt.

"I'm... so sorry," I managed to spit out. "I can't believe I just left."

"Oh never mind that," Rosalie assured me. "You're forgiving. We've all gone through this."

"AND YOU'RE COMING BACK!" Alice's high-pitched shrill burned my ears. She was so excited, which she had made clear, that she was getting her sister AND her brother back. I mouthed an apologizing to the man sitting next to me. I knew that he could hear the high-pitched screams of an excited Alice, even if she was confined to the phone.

I covered the speaker and walked over to Edward. Quietly, I asked, "Would you like to talk to your – sorry, our – family?"

His eyes lit up for a moment. "Is Bella there?" His face fell within seconds and I knew that he found it in my brain. "No, tell them I say hello, though."

I sent Edward's greeting to the family and it was welcomed with a warm reception. Eventually, Esme coaxed the phone from Alice and I bid goodbye to the clan that I would soon be reunited with. For the remainder of our waiting time, I watched Edward. Just observed. He paced when we was nervous. I knew it was going to put him on edge to be so near Bella... or where he thought she would be. I knew it would hurt him to go into their bedroom. I knew that he was hurting, even now. And I felt his pain, oddly. I wanted to comfort him, to tell him that she still loved him and was just confused. But I couldn't reach out to him. He was out of reach, if only slightly, and I knew my words would not help.

I looked at him. Edward... My friend... My brother, in all but the biological sense. I wanted to ease his pain, but I didn't know how. I felt like I was obsolete in his protective bubble. But, he had his own troubles. And I had mine. I would find out what happened to me, and why I was so different. I would have to start at the end, the beginning of my new life. I would pull all the strings I had to in order find out.

I would fight tooth and nail for the truth, even if that meant more pain to me.

---

The plane had landed and Edward and I were patiently waiting for a pause in the constant flow of people so we could pass through. We hadn't spoken a word through the too-long flight. I knew what he was thinking of, and I was sure he knew what I was thinking of. But he hadn't offered the least bit of advice and I felt more like a sibling to him than ever. We scooted past the seats and into the main aisle when there was a break. I emerged out of the airport and felt at ease.

The windows showed nothing but a hazy mist, and that made me feel better... in an odd way. Edward and I wordlessly continued towards baggage claim. Even though, in the back of my mind, I was expecting it, the Cullen Welcome Wagon still caught me by surprise. There were two huge banners with my name and Edward's emblazed on them, balloons everywhere, and everyone that we loved.

Aside from one.

The disappointment was evident in Edward's face, but he fixed it and made himself smile. Alice and Rosalie crowded me and crushed me with hugs. Esme kissed both of my cheeks and, if she could cry, she would have. Carlisle hugged me as well, and I knew that I would have to talk to him later. Emmett lifted me off my feet and swung me around in a hug, almost crushing me. Jasper was slightly less dramatic about it, but his hug had the same feeling of love that Emmett's did.

The family was incomplete, but functioning. I was glad about that, and I was happy. Genuinely, without a doubt, happy. But as Alice began babbling about this and that, school was brought up. I would have to endure one week before Christmas vacation. I had hope to have a bit more preparation time before I would have to see Devon again. If I could just... avoid him. Yes, avoid him like the plague. That might work.

---

Yeah... not working. It seemed like every time I turned a corner, I saw him. He never saw me, thanks to my speed, but he would just... not go away! Lunch was the time I worried about the most, since I would be vulnerable, even. I had opted out of eating lunch the first two days because I did not want to alert him of my return.

But, surely he would know. The girls gossiped like old women. Plus, it did not go unnoticed that Edward had returned. Even more than before, I was afraid to be alone, without a distraction. I focused hard on my studies, even though I didn't have to.

Alice got annoyed with me and dragged, quite literally, me to the cafeteria on Wednesday. I sat there, jumpy. I felt like every set of eyes were on me. I prayed, hoped, wished, that Devon was not one of the many watching me.

I was in the clear, I could see the bright exit light in my eyes. It was Friday. No, it was the last period of Friday. No, it was my off period, the last period, on Friday. Jasper and I had settled on a bench outside, the wind and snow very difficult for any human, but not affecting us in any way.

And all my hard work, avoiding and dodging, all week went to waste as I heard an oh-so-familiar voice pierce the air. "Dawn?" Devon asked carefully. I spun my head around and locked eyes with him. He smiled his movie-star smile and started towards me. My practical side grimaced, but the teenager inside of me came through and I was almost as excited as he was to see me. My stomach jumped and flipped with every step he took towards me. We were a foot apart when I threw my arms around him, the proximity eliminating all practicality from me.

"I missed you," he whispered into my hair. I could only nod. If only he could know the circumstances, he would understand. If only, if only... But I, better than anyone, knew the rules of vampire society. Nobody. Can. Know.

The secrecy was enough to kill me. "I missed you too... You have no idea," I whispered back to him, clinging to him tighter. NOT a lie. Not a lie at all... I broke away from the hug and stepped back. Jasper smiled up at me and walked into the hallway. He would be fine, and he knew what I was feeling. Obviously.

"So, you're back! You're back... Why are you back?" he asked me, curiously.

I rolled my eyes. "If only I could tell you," I whispered lowly, so low that he wouldn't hear. "The new family didn't quite work out." NOT a lie. "And L.A. was too much for me." Lie. At least I still remembered my alibi two months later. "So, how are you? Did you..." I paused and took an unneeded breath. "Did you get over me?"

He grinned at me. "Not in the least." I melted. He took my hand and we began walking. I felt him shiver and I tried to pull away. "No," he told me simply. "I want to know that you're actually here." I smiled a sad smile at him and hoped he was playing this up for me. We walked in silence for a moment. However, he broke the silence. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Can you?"

"No, I mean, will you give me an honest answer?"

"It..." I sighed. "It depends on the question."

"I want a guarantee." His eyes pleaded with me and I lost practicality again. Pursing my lips, I nodded. "Okay, so... You said there are things you couldn't tell me."

i 'CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!!' /i I screamed in my head. Why, oh why, did I let Jasper leave? He was onto me! He knew, or he wanted to know. And I promised. "That hasn't changed," I stated, almost bitterly. "I can't tell you."

He sighed and swung our hands with a little more force. "Can you tell me why not?"

I closed my eyes and thought back to Jane, torturing the vampire who was so obviously guilt-ridden. But... I was on a different continent. She couldn't hurt me, and I... Oh, who was I kidding? This was the Volturi we were talking about.

But if i he /i guessed it himself... Well... No harm, no foul? I hoped so. Hints, that's all I would give him. "If you ask the right questions... I'll give you the right answers." I put it that way. "But some of them I can't answer for safety reasons."

"Who's safety?" he asked immediately.

"Yours, mostly. Then mine, then the Cullens..." The list could go longer than that. "But mostly you and I, we're on dangerous ground already."

"Who's threatening you?"

I barred my teeth. "Kind of the monarchy of my world. They're more powerful than anyone could think."

"Your world?" he looked confused.

"I... would like – no, love – to tell you but... I can't. Keep asking questions." Maybe I would have to push him a bit... No, no, one day at a time. "Here, one more question today. Then you have to wait till after break."

He pouted slightly, but didn't argue with it. "Did... did you really go to L.A.?" he asked.

"No," I said simply, and we continued walking towards the warmth the cafeteria radiated. There were no more questions, only talking. And I still didn't know what was going on with me and him. Were we dating? Were we friends? Were we hybrids? There was a lull in the conversation and I finally asked him, "So, you answer one question for me. What are we?"

"Well, you and I are hum–"

I cut him off before he could say the word, "No, I mean... Are we dating? Are we friends? I'm not sure."

"Well, what would you prefer?"

I hesitated. Rarely did I ever make my own decisions, and even more rarely did I want to. He was leaving it up to me, and that sucked. I looked down at our hands, interlaced under the table that kept us facing each other. And I knew the answer, just by looking at them. "Dating," I stated. Nodding as I did so.

"Let's make it official then," he said and he leaned over the table. I leaned my head in as well and, ever so lightly, our lips touched. We both hesitated and looked up at each other. Devon had a goofy smile plastered on his face and I was sure I looked just as stupid. We lunged at each other again and this time the kiss had depth. Under the table, our other hands interlaced as well and I felt complete. But, guilty in a way.

I pulled away before we could get too carried away. Devon didn't mention it, but I could tell by the way he looked at me that he was wondering why I was guarded. But, with time, I hoped that he would come to understand that I was not, in fact, human as he assumed.

**You all should seriously hate me. I'M SO SORRY! D I couldn't get this chapter right, and kept putting it off! Ugh, I'm so angry with myself. But proud at the same time. This chapter is three-hundred words short four thousand. Oh, and who else finished Eclipse? XD I got the first copy in my local B&N today. I made my mother stand outside with me to get it for thirty minutes. Ah, it's better than Harry Potter. ****Six hours in line was a bit much for her. Well, anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. I tried to make up for the time that I couldn't post more chapters, so I hope you're happy. I WANTED to add Bella drama to it, but I suppose that will have to wait. Don't be surprised if there's a new chapter up tomorrow, this took me next to no time to hammer out. Leave a review if you'd like, I know I'd like it, and happy reading!**


	10. Rescue

I looked at the clock mounted on the wall near me. It read three in the morning and I scowled. All I had to do was just go in and tell him. The thumping was going to happen soon. It seemed like it thumped every three days, but it seemed like every single time, they were closer together. Biting my lip, I knocked on the door.

"Come in," Carlisle called from inside. I sighed deeply and entered the room. "Dawn, what is it? You look... troubled."

I averted my eyes from him. "Yeah, I figured that you could help me." I paused for a moment, trying to place my words correctly. "There was a specific reason Edward and I had to leave so... quickly." My eyes chanced a look at him. He simply nodding, encouraging me to go on. "Well... there was this... sound." I pursed my lips, trying to figure out what was going on. "It sounded like... like a heartbeat. From a real, human heart." I stared into his eyes and said the last part of the story, "It came from me. The sound came from my... chest." My hand landed on where my heart would be on instinct.

"That is..." Carlisle couldn't place the words. "So very interesting." There was a pause. "How many times has it happened now?"

"Three times, but it will happen again soon. There's a set pattern to it, I know." My eyes flicked to the clock behind Carlisle. "Sometime in the next few minutes, that's what I–" I stopped midsentence as the thump happened. I felt it in my chest. "You see?" I whispered.

Carlisle nodded. "I think... I think your body is fighting back the venom."

"After two months, though?"

He frowned. "I've never heard of this happening. Did you do anything different the day you were changed?"

I thought back to my memory. I ran through the entire morning, and the only thing that I didn't do every day was take a Tylenol. "Just took some Tylenol for a headache, but otherwise, no."

"Tylenol is far too weak..." Carlisle mused to himself, mostly. "I think that you might need to get another dose of venom." I sucked in a breath. "No, it wouldn't be like the first time. It would just sting for a few days, but it should sedate your body."

"And... without the venom?"

"Complications would occur. You would be safest if one of us just bit you." He nodded a few times.

I held out my arm to him. "Could you do it? Now?" I closed my eyes and looked away. Carlisle hesitated, but in a few seconds, I felt the pinch of his teeth on my arm. He pulled away just as quickly and I felt the stinging immediately. Tears filled my eyes. "It stings," I hissed. "But thank you." I nodded to him and glided out of the room.

Alice saw me from the stairs and was at my side in a second. She was glowing with happiness. For what, I didn't know. But, it probably had something to do with the future. "Dawn, come with me!" She grabbed hand and I yelped out in pain. She touched the bite on my arm. She looked down at the arm and tilted her head.

"It's complicated," I reasoned. She looked like she was going to pry a bit more, but she seemed to be in a hurry.

"Quick, guard your thoughts." I immediately started thinking about Devon and us kissing, that was sure to deter Edward. "Now, come on! There's only a few more seconds." We ran down the stairs and stopped in front of the front door.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Alice whispered, "Five, four, three, two, one..." The doorbell rang and Alice yanked open the door with more force than necessary. Our visitor jumped and dropped the envelope she was carrying. Alice launched herself onto her, squeezing her tight.

"Bella?" I asked, shocked myself.

She smiled weakly and pushed Alice off of her. "Don't get Edward," she said first in a low voice that was sure not to carry to his ears. She bent over and scooped up the envelope. "Give this to him for me," she said, giving the envelope to Alice. She nodded happily. "Dawn, I need to talk to you." She looked at me carefully. "It's important."

I nodded, dumbly, and followed her outside. We sat on the porch and I waited for her to begin talking. "So... I was talking to an old friend of mine up in Washington." She chanced a look at me. "And he told me something about... about your attacker. The one who changed you."

I caught my breath. How could she have known that I was looking for answers? "Well, Jacob... he told me that this vampire was being elusive and the pack – he's a werewolf – couldn't catch him. But they could hear him saying things about the one that got away. Blue Eyes, he called you." She bit her lip and looked down. "I told Jacob about you, and it's clear he was talking about you." She looked at me for a moment, but looked down again. "I've told them not to destroy him."

I breathed out a sigh. "Thank you," I told her. All pain in my arm seemed to disappear. "Maybe I can finally figure it out now."

"Can I... ask a question?" she asked cautiously, now avoiding looking at me.

"Yes, you can ask me anything."

She bit her lip and focused on the porch beneath us. "Is Edward in love with you?" The question caught me off guard and I couldn't say anything for a moment. There was silence on the porch step and my arm began to sting again. I was suddenly hyper aware of everything around me.

"No," I told her. "No. He loves you more than I thought possible." I looked at her and waited for her to meet my gaze. She eventually did and I said, "A few days before we left Italy, we were looking at the night sky. You know what he said to me? He said that knowing you were out there without his protection was harder than thinking you were dead. Harder than anything."

"He... Did he really say that?" her eyes glittered.

"Yes, among other things. He loves you, Bella, and it's killing him." I looked down at the ground. "Why did you leave?"

She sighed. "I thought for sure that he was in love with you. Edward... he's attracted to things – people – that are different. I thought that I had become too mundane for him. And we were fighting, and I said some things that I shouldn't have and..." She stood up. "And I can't talk about this. His name is William, he's near Forks, Washington." She handed me a piece of paper. "If you decide you want to find him, call my friend Jacob. He'll help, just tell him you're a friend of Bella's." She took a few steps before breaking out into a run and disappearing from my sight. I looked at the number on the paper in my hand. I folded it carefully and pushed it into my pocket. I would use that in the future.

The door behind me was yanked open and Edward stood there, and I knew that he had caught on Bella's scent. I turned to face him and ran the conversation through my mind. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked him.

"It wasn't important." Alice appeared behind him and handed him the envelope with sad eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him. I walked past Edward who was holding the envelope. Alice took my hand and we walked upstairs, stealing glances at Edward once in a while. Alice and I had just closed the door to my room when we heard Edward yelling. I looked at her, confused. She sighed and explained, "They're divorce papers."

---

Christmas break was too long already, and it was only the first week. After the debacle with Bella, Edward had locked himself in his room with the papers. At first, we all tried to get him out, but he wouldn't leave. There wasn't much we could say, but we tried. I was spending more and more time in my room as well, but I assumed we all were. Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, Esme, and Carlisle had gone on a hunting trip. I opted out, simply because I didn't feel thirsty at all. Alice opted out as well, if only to keep my company.

I was reading a book when my door opened and Alice danced in. "You're going to have a visitor!" she squealed and jumped up onto my bed. "Devon's coming to see you."

"Here?" I asked. "When? Now? Please don't say now."

"Not now... fifteen minutes," she offered me a smile and I scowled at her. "I thought you would be excited! He is your boyfriend." Oh yeah. I had almost forgotten that entire thing. A rather large part of the equation, you might say. But, so much had happened recently... Well, I hadn't had time to think about it. "He's going to call you in less than a minute. Your phone's in your backpack." She smiled at me and I launched myself towards the backpack. I dug through it and found the phone. Almost the second I had it in my hand, it began to ring.

I flipped it open and said, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me." Alice hovered near me, listening in on my conversation.

I swatted her away, but she persisted. "I know. What's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if it was okay if I came to see you."

Alice nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, sure. Come on over." Alice jumped around excitedly.

"Okay, see you in a few minutes."

"See you." I closed the phone and threw it on my bed. I began pacing. "Alice, oh Alice, what am I going to do?" I whispered. She paced with me.

"What do you mean?"

"He wants _answers_, Alice. He wants to know why I'm so cold. He's curious!"

She quirked an eyebrow at me. "So lie." She shrugged. "Surely you can think of something he'd buy."

I barred my teeth. "I don't want to lie to him."

She laughed. "You can't very well tell him the truth! Well, actually..."

"No, I can't tell him..." I trailed off and the sentence had less confidence than I wanted it to have. "But... no. No, I've seen what Jane could do..." My pacing got fasted and soon, I was running back and forth in a straight line. Alice's eyes followed me from her spot on the bed.

She jumped off unexpectedly and exclaimed, "He's here!" I stopped and she took advantage of that and yanked me by my arm. We ran down the stairs and the doorbell rang soon after. Carefully, I opened the door. And the practicality left once again.

There were _flowers_. Pretty smelling, beautifully arranged flowers! What girl would be able to _be _practical with flowers? My newly-stopped heart melted at the sight. "Oh, Devon," I whispered. Probably a bit over-dramatic, I ran into a hug with him. "Thank you."

"You like the flowers? I wasn't sure what to get so I kind of got... everything," he explained when I pulled out of the hug.

I smelled the bouquet and smiled. "I love them, thank you!" I was still aware of Alice's presence. I turned around and gave her a look that clearly said to go away. She raised her eyebrows but left anyway. "That's Alice, by the way," I said, probably a bit late, to Devon. I let him into the house and closed the door quietly. "So... this is the house..." I stated lamely.

"Where's everyone else?" Devon asked.

"Well... most of them are – er – camping. Edward is... preoccupied." My eyes darted up the stairs for a second, my thoughts straying towards him.

"School work?" he offered.

I nodded. "Yeah, school work." I bit my lip. The lying would have to stop... eventually. "Listen, Devon, I've been meaning to tell you..."

"About your thing?" he finished for me. "I figured. But, don't tell me if you think it wouldn't be best. I mean, you're human, I'm human, I bet we both have secrets."

"Well, that's the thi–" I started but an aggravated yell from upstairs interrupted me. Alice and Edward were downstairs quicker than they should have judged their pace.

"Even now, she can't stay out of danger!" Edward yelled as he ran out the door.

Alice came up to me and started talking extremely fast, obviously hoping that Devon wouldn't understand. "Bella's in trouble, big trouble. The Volturi decided to pay a visit to her, and she was with Jacob at the time. They took her back to Italy because they don't like the pack knowing where we are apparently, but the pack already knew about us. So Bella's in Italy, or at least on her way, and we're going, are you coming?" Alice bit her lip and Edward honked the horn three times.

"I..." My eyes darted back and forth between Devon and Alice. "I'm so sorry," I told Devon. Thinking twice about it, I got on my tip-toes and kissed him. "If I don't come back, it's not because I'm avoiding you," I told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him out the door. "It's because of complicated–"

"Dawn, I'm coming with you." My eyes bulged.

"You... You can't possibly!" Alice stuttered.

Edward stuck his head out of the window and yelled, "HE'S NOT COMING!" _'I'm going to tell him anyway. He won't go to see the __Volturi__, and neither will I. He doesn't need to know anything unless it's necessary,' _I thought, staring directly at Edward. He hesitated then yelled, "JUST GET IN THE DAMN CAR, WOULD YOU?"

Alice giggled and the three of us ran towards the car. She slipped into the front seat and I crawled into the back with Devon. Edward took off, doing almost two-hundred. I looked over at Devon and he seemed scared. Softly smiling, I took his hand and leaned towards him to whisper in his ear. "It's okay. There's no way he's going to crash." He still seemed tense. "Just look at me, ignore the road." He turned his head and focused his eyes on me. I returned his gaze. In a matter of minutes, Edward had parked the car. The four of us moved quickly into the airport and Devon seemed surprised.

Alice and Edward got us four tickets with ease, and I marveled at them. Well, Alice already knew we were getting on the plane and Edward knew what they were thinking, so it really couldn't have been that hard. The next plane left in five minutes, so we would have to bypass security, illegally of course.

"Devon, get on my back," I told him, turning around.

"Why?" he asked. "Won't I be too heavy for you?"

I shook my head. "No, don't worry about that. Just trust me and get on. I'll explain later." He got onto my back and I shifted my weight so I could support him better. "Duck your head into my neck."

"Wha–" Before he could finish, we were running. Alice and Edward quickly passed us, but the human eye would not pick Devon and I up, even though we were going a bit slower than I would have liked. I stopped and let Devon drop. The four of us boarded the crowded plane and took our seats. "Can I just ask one question?" he said as we buckled ourselves in. Alice and Edward were in the row across from us. I could tell that Alice was soothing him with her visions because Edward had his eyes closed and looked like he was concentrating on reading her thoughts.

"Yeah," I answered him, turning my head from Edward and Alice. "Just one."

He nodded. "Did I... pass out or something? Because one second we were by the ticket counters and the next we were at the gate."

I shook my head. "You didn't pass out." He nodded and we settled back into our seats. The plane took off and I was shaking with anxiety. Going back to Italy might be dangerous for me, but I would have to fight tooth and nail to protect Devon. A few hours into the flight, Devon fell asleep. When he woke up, I knew I would have to explain a little. Probably just the illegal things. "Devon, I feel like I should tell you something," I started. "Don't interrupt me, and no questions, okay?" He nodded and I took his word. "So, when we get to Italy, you can't say anything about what we're doing. We'll be in a hurry, so don't let go of my hand, whatever you do. No questions, just go with the flow. And then, at one point, Edward and Alice will have to go do something. I might have to help them, but my first priority is protecting you." He looked like he was about to say something, but I started up again. "You see, we're on a slight... rescue mission. And we'll have to do some things that aren't exactly... legal."

I stopped and he responded, "Is that it?"

"Well, we'll be fugitives of the law. So, yeah, that's it."

"Cool."

---

We ran at almost human speed in the airport. Devon could hardly keep up with us, so I had to half-pull him most of the way. Alice commented on how the last time she was here, she was doing something strangely similar. Edward growled at her. The two of them ran off, leaving Devon and I alone for a few seconds. A car pulled up and Alice waved us over.

Edward took off, even faster than before. It was a while before we reached Volterra, but we did. The sun was shining brightly, which worried me. Edward parked the car in an abandoned alleyway, in the shade. He and Alice disappeared without a word, but I knew exactly where they were going.

I paced for a moment, not knowing exactly what to do. An idea came to me and I dived into the car once more. Rummaging through the things in the backseat, I produced an umbrella, luckily. I opened it up and hid myself under it. "Okay, let's go," I said to Devon. We walked at a brisk pace, moving into the shade when we could. Thankfully, Devon didn't ask questions. We came across an inn and we took out a room, under Devon's name. I couldn't risk anything.

For a while, we sat in silence. Then, I finally asked, "Have any ideas yet?"

"I've got theories," he told me.

"Care to share with me?"

"You're going to turn into some sort of animal any second now."

I bit my lip. "Not exactly."

"The sun will make you turn into an animal?"

I chuckled. "No."

He laughed with me. "Then, no. I don't know."

"Well that's good. I can't risk anything, especially in this city." There was silence once more. The unmistakable buzzing of my phone on vibrate rang in my ears and I launched myself at it, answering it before it had even finished the first ring.

"Dawn, where are you?" Alice asked quickly.

"Devon and I are in the hotel not too far from the car. Where are you?"

"We got Bella out. We're coming to get you. Be ready." The call disconnected and I put down the phone.

---

With the stress of knowing the Volturi were not happy with us, we rushed out of Volterra. We had to steal another car because somebody would have noticed the one before was stolen. The air in the car was tense, however. Edward seemed angry as he drove, Alice was glaring at him, Bella was glaring at him, and I was just trying to figure it out.

There was silence the entire way to the airport. And even then, while we were waiting for our flight, there was silence. Then, Bella pulled me aside without a word and we walked down the terminal, out of earshot. She stopped and hugged me tightly. "I'm so sorry, so sorry, so sorry!" she whispered in my ear.

I hugged her back awkwardly. "Why? You did nothing wrong. We came to save you."

She pulled back and looked down at her feet, ashamed. "I wish you hadn't." She led me to a vacant seat. Sighing, she elaborated, "Edward and Alice were bargaining to get me out. At first, Edward told them that he would come back if they let me go. But they didn't want him."

"Well that's good, right? I mean, now you two can get back together. He never did sign those papers," I responded. She bit her lip and started to pace again.

"That's not all." She stopped and stared me in the eye. "They didn't want him because they wanted you." I tilted my head, confused. "Edward traded me... he traded me for you."

My eyes went wide. So what was I, some kind of material object that could be traded at will?

But, then again I felt somewhat glad, if that would be the correct term. If I went back – which seemed inevitable now – I wouldn't have to explain anything to Devon. He could go on without knowing, and I wouldn't get him into trouble.

It was silent for a moment or two. Then, after I mulled it over, I responded, "Okay." Calmly, I walked back towards them. I went directly up to Alice a whispered in a tone just below what humans could hear, "It's okay, but I'm going to go now." Alice gasped and hugged me tighter. She let go of me eventually and I hugged Edward wordlessly. Then, I turned to Devon. "Bella and I are going to the bathroom, we'll be back," I told him. I gave him a quick kiss and then I walked away with Bella.

We reached the bathroom and went in. I gave my final hug to Bella and, once I pulled back, I said, "Keep him safe, please." She nodded and I started running, undetected by any humans.

**Arggghhhhh**** It's taken me this long, and all I can spew out is this shit. I'm so sorry. ****SO SORRY.****Because this is probably the worst chapter of this story.**** I'm really pissed. But, it's something. And it's propelling the story forwards, so yeah.**

**And we WILL be seeing Devon again, just in case you were wondering. He's a bit more interesting than you may think. But that's all I'm saying! Okay, so please leave a review and, if you would like to, please read and review my other Twilight story! Thanks!**


	11. Devon v2

One of the greatest things about being a vampire would have to be the whole "I don't sleep, so I don't need to adjust to time differences" thing. It was relatively easy to fall back into step with the Volturi. And by relatively easy, I mean that I put on a fake face when I wasn't in my room crying. It kind of really sucks being prisoner. But then I would think about it, and think that I helped Bella and Edward. The Cullens had been a happy family before me, they could be happy without me. Right?

I figured as much. Devon had a life before me, I reasoned that he didn't need the trouble I would bring him. But, otherwise, I grew to be bored with this life. There was nothing for me to do. I was there for about a week, when something did happen.

I remember it well. Like always, I was sitting in a quiet corner, watching people come in and out, going to meet their deaths. (There were no happy endings in the Volturi. Only endings.) All of them were humans, and I felt sorry for them. Then, I picked up the scent of a vampire – more specifically, a newborn – and then I saw him. He looked like a tourist, lost and confused, but I knew that someone didn't finish their meal.

He was told to wait. I felt sorry for the poor darling, so I went over to him. "Hey," I greeted, waving. "Can I sit?" He nodded. I smiled and sat next to him. "What's your name?"

"Max," he said. "Max Connelly."

"Hi Max, I'm Dawn. If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" I asked carefully.

"I apparently broke a law. But this doesn't look like a police station." He quirked an eyebrow at me. "Are you a police officer? Child services rep? I am seventeen, I don't need child services. I'm sure my parents are looking for me."

I pursed my lips. "This isn't a police station, and you're... Do you know what you are?" He shook his head. "Well, it's a bit complicated, but promise you'll believe me. So, you must remember being attacked..."

I explained the whole vampire thing to him. Then, he was called forth. I'll admit, I liked Max. It was nice to have someone my own age to talk to. So, instead of waiting for him to die, I went with him. They were a bit surprised to see me walk out with him. "I had to tell him he was a vampire, whoever changed him didn't help him. He didn't know anything about rules. Don't punish him for something he didn't know was wrong."

"Ignorance of the law is still breaking the law," Caius stated calmly.

"He didn't know he wasn't allowed to go in the sunlight. Ignorance of what he is cannot be something worth punishing."

Aro smiled at me. "She has a point, Caius. What do you propose we do, then, Dawn?"

"I'll teach him. Show him what he can, and cannot, do. Please. You're holding me here against my will, the least you can do is give me a friend." I narrowed my eyes and glared at the members of the Volturi gathered around. Almost all averted their gaze.

Caius looked like he was about to retort, but Aro stopped him. "Let the boy live, Caius." He nodded to me, and Max and I walked out.

"Uh, thanks?" he said, scratching his neck.

"No problem," I stated. "Although, I don't know how much you would want to be here, let alone be alive." I sighed. "I know I don't want to be."

There was a pause as we continued to walk. Finally, he spoke up, "You don't want to be here, or you don't want to be alive?"

I shrugged and raised my eyebrows at him. "What do you think?"

"You're not going to go... suicidal on me, are you?" he asked quickly.

I laughed. "Vampires really can't commit suicide. I could set myself on fire, although I don't know if that would do it at all." I stopped him and turned towards the mirror in the hall. "See anything different?"

He started tugging at his face. "Yeah, I look better than I did... Paler..."

"I mean between us. Look closely at our faces." He did, his eyes darted between our two reflections.

"Your eyes. They're blue. Mine are... red." He stared at me oddly. "Everyone else has red eyes too."

I started walking again. "There's generally three colors of eyes for vampires. Red, when you're well-fed. Black, when you need to feed. And..." I swallowed. "And topaz, when you don't feed on humans."

"What about blue?"

"Abnormality." I clasped my hands and rested my thumb on my wrist, waiting to see if I would get a pulse. I wasn't sure if it was going to come back. And, to be truthful, I wanted it to come back. "I'm not a normal vampire." There was silence as we headed down another hallway that led to the spare rooms, mine included. I opened my door and stated in a monotone voice, "Welcome to my own personal prison cell." He walked in and took a survey of the room.

"Doesn't look like a cell," he commented.

"It is, trust me," I replied in a quiet voice. My cell phone ringer went off and I jumped. Max looked on the desk where the phone was. He picked it up and threw it over to me. "Devon?"

I looked down at the caller I.D. It was Devon. I opened it and held it up to my ear. "Dawn?" he asked into the phone.

My voice cracked, "Hi."

"I've been calling for hours."

"I've been busy."

Silence.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Away."

He paused before saying, "When are you coming back?"

Silence.

"Dawn?"

More silence.

"Hello?"

More silence.

"Remember when I said that there were things you couldn't possibly understand?" I said quickly.

"Yeah, that was also the day you left. I remember."

"This is one of those things."

"I'm sure I could understand."

"No, you couldn't. I can't tell you anyway."

"What is this? The mofia? Your family isn't saying anything either! Edward, Alice, they're all mute or something. Even that other one... The one who we got from Italy..."

"Bella."

"Yeah, she's been so quiet. She always looks like she's about to cry."

"I don't want to hear this..."

"Please, just tell me."

"I CAN'T, DEVON!"

"So? You were going to anyway! Give me another hint!"

"STOP IT!"

"No, just tell me."

"I can't think of another way than to say that you can't know, I can't tell you, and I need to go."

"But—"

"Goodbye, Devon!" I hung up the phone and threw it at the wall in anger, shattering it into small pieces. Max looked from the wall to me and back again.

"Are you... okay?" he asked.

I bit my lip. "No."

"Oh."

He sat on the bed with me and we just sat in silence for a while. "That was my boyfriend," I admitted.

"Oh." He looked at the ground. "Is he a vampire too?"

I shook my head. "That's why he can't know I'm here."

"I'm sorry."

I shrugged. "It's for the greater good... I suppose. Although I don't suppose he's my boyfriend anymore."

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked quietly. I nodded and he got up to leave.

"Wait," I said, before he left. "You can stay. We'll need to go shopping soon as the sun goes down anyway." I patted a spot next to me on the bed. "If you want, you can tell me your life story. Give me the True Hollywood Story on you."

He took in a deep breath. "Well, my family and I live – well, they still live there but I don't – in London. I've always liked it there. I'm a big-city kind of person..." We talked for hours, and I learned a lot about him. How he wanted to become a musician, but could never write lyrics, only compose.

And then, I told him about my life. About how I was turned, how I watched my family crumble, how I watched my mother die... How I met Devon. How I almost told Devon. I didn't have to explain why we broke up. I told him how I became involved with the Volturi, and how I now regret doing that.

Talking with Max made me feel almost human again. We had common ground, and there was nothing that couldn't be shared. Nothing that had to be kept in. I liked that feeling. I was rather taken with Max, to be perfectly correct. We were quick friends, but good friends. By the end of the week, we were inseparable.

I'm not going to lie. He reminded me of Devon, and that's why I liked him. He was a Devon that I could tell all my secrets to, one that I didn't have to lie to. He was Devon 2.0, and improved prototype. I was ready to replace Devon with Max.

And that's exactly what I did.

**A/N:** is ashamed Has it really been that long? D: I'm a terrible person.


	12. Execution

**A/N:** Oooooh yay I'm so excited for this chapter. It's gonna be good people, very good. . Oh and please please please leave me reviews, they make me more motivated to write chapters. (Most of the time, I won't post another chapter until I get a review on the last chapter I wrote. XD) So yeah. Read, review, love it!

Max turned out to be a fairly good companion, but it wasn't like I had a "back up" companion. Well, not saying that I didn't want to hang out with Max, but... Well, sometimes he got really annoying.

Once I really started to get to know him, he turned out to be one of those guys who thinks they're all that and expects everyone to fall on their knees in front of him.

He kept bragging and telling me on and on and on and on about his life. He was a great athlete, he almost had a scholarship... Blah, blah, blah. It all went in one ear and out the other.

But, he was nice. He was kind. He was grateful that I saved him. He listened to me when I needed to talk about something. He was very encouraging of my need to know why I'm different. In short, as a friend he was amazing. But as a person? Not so amazing.

I had thought we had told each other everything about ourselves. But he kept coming up with questions for me.

One of them set off a chain reaction that... well... It's hard to explain.

"Hey, Dawn," Max said as he strolled into my room without knocking. He didn't need to, and I didn't care. He promptly sat down next to me as I marked my page in my book.

"What's up?" I asked him, throwing my book on the floor.

"Question," he began, and I nodded, accustomed to this now. "Are you now, or were you ever, in love with Devon?" he asked quickly, as if he was asking if the sun was out right now.

I blinked a few times. "Um... No. To both. I hardly knew him." He nodded and laid back on my bed. "Can I ask why you're so curious about our relationship?"

He simply shrugged and changed the subject, "So why did you leave Oregon in the first place? You knew Devon then, didn't you?"

"I left because there wasn't anything for me then." I gently laid back next to him. "I didn't see any reason to stay."

"But you went back," he said.

I rolled my eyes and playfully hit him. "Because my heart started beating again!"

He laughed and pushed me again. "But you still went back with Edward and the crew, didn't you? You could have gone somewhere else."

I threw him a dark look. "Do you honestly think I was planning on going back? It happened so fast, you couldn't imagine. All I wanted to do was get out of the Volturi's reach." I scoffed. "Because that plan worked out so well."

We fell silent for a while. It wasn't the awkward silence that happened at the beginning of our friendship. It was comfortable, like a familiar feeling. After a while, I felt his hand snake into mine, intertwining.

"You're not going to go back again, are you?" he whispered.

I bit my lip. If I had the chance, would I go back? Back to where I would have to look at my father and brother fall apart without mother and I? Back to where Devon would be waiting to pounce the second he saw me? Back to where everything was comfortable, but nothing was right?

That moment, the answer was no. I wouldn't go back to Oregon, not for the life of me.

"No," I whispered back. "Never."

We sat there for almost an hour later, not speaking. We just lay on my bed, holding hands, praying for something better than this to happen.

And maybe someone heard our prayers.

Maybe someone did something.

Maybe it was by sheer will, mine or someone else's

Or completely bad timing.

But, nevertheless, I heard it. That familiar sound that accompanied the thumb in my chest cavity. It was beginning again.

My head snapped towards Max, who was already looking at me. I mouthed to him, 'Did you hear that?' He nodded.

This was definitely not a good thing.

---

I didn't do anything about it, I just ignored it. I figured, if it followed the same pattern, I had at least a week.

Why do something now? Nobody heard but Max.

He wouldn't act on it.

I certainly wouldn't say anything.

I would just ask Max to bite me soon. That was all.

No big deal.

Max and I were hanging out in the entry hall outside of the balcony, like we did when we weren't hanging out in our rooms, when it happened again.

It had only been one day.

Within seconds, the entirety of the Volturi was in the entry hall, staring at us. Their eyes read our guilty faces easily and, just as quick, two vampires came up and held me back. I hung my head and let them hold me back. Who was I to put up a fight?

There was some quiet bickering between the leaders, but after about a minute, all of us headed out onto the balcony again. I was forced to stand in the middle, having everyone stare at me.

God damnit.

"Dawn," Aro began, in his patronizing voice that he gave me sometimes. I looked up at him and mustered the dirtiest look possible. If they were going to treat me like a criminal, I was going to let everything out. "You're becoming a liability."

A liability?

A liability!?!?

I'd give them liability...

Screw this shit, putting up with being cooped up all day. No ties to the only people I could consider family. Did they really expect me to roll over and just comply with everything they would tell me.

"We can't deal with this behavior anymore." It was Caius now. They were ganging up on me.

I scowled. "So what? Are you going to take me back to Oregon and swap me with another Cullen? Will it be Alice this time?" I snarled.

"Now, Dawn..." Aro started.

"It's just a business transaction. You're just trying to keep us in line because you know, deep down-"

"DAWN!" Cauis roared.

"YOU KNOW WE'RE A THREAT!" I yelled at them. I felt something surge inside of me, but I pushed it down. "You're scared."

Now everyone stared at me with anger. I'd just insulted their very being. The Volturi was scared of no one, everyone was scared of them.

But not us. Never us.

I could openly say that after the first time meeting the Volturi, I couldn't be scared by them. I saw past their silly little charade. They think they're all mighty and powerful, but they aren't. And they know it, which is their greatest, and only fear. A rebellion.

Edward. He knew what they were capable of, and he wanted to use it for his own vices. He simply saw the Volturi as a way to keep himself happy, in his own sick and twisted way.

Alice. She had come face to face with the Volturi many times, saving Edward, Bella, and me. Well... not me. But Edward and Bella, for sure. Twice.

"You know it," I whispered, lowering my head again. "I'm only here because you're trying to keep the Cullens in order... and away from werewolves." A ripple of whispers broke out in the crowd, who didn't know about the werewolves in Washington. I swallowed carefully and started talking again, this time lifting my head high and staring straight at the three men who had made my life hell. "Go ahead. Kill me," I taunted. "I _know_ you want to." I thrust my arm out to them. "Go ahead. Oh... wait..." I laughed to myself. "If you kill me, what's to stop the Cullens from returning the favor? And, oh yeah, what's to stop them from bringing the werewolves too? It'd be a terrible shame if this entire place was exposed to what it really is... to vampires, to werewolves... and to the humans."

Suddenly, I found myself in terrible pain. I knew it was Jane. I crumpled to the floor and writhed in pain. Through the tears gathering in my eyes, I saw the Volturi looking down, amused. After a few seconds, I heard a yell from the door way.

"STOP IT! STOP IT!" Max yelled. Jane only laughed at him and I felt more pain. I screamed loudly.

After that, I'm not quite sure what happened. I heard a loud yell from Max and then, everything began shaking. I heard the rocks jostling, and I knew the balcony was coming down. Jane lifted her stare and everyone went into a panic. Max grabbed me and dragged me into the entry hall. Most everyone had gotten out, only two people fell out of sight with the balcony. They'd be fine, they were both vampires.

But I was most impressed by Max. He had found his power... whatever it was. It was power... and it was scary. The Volturi had another force to deal with. I was visibly weakened by Jane's brutal beating, if that's what you could call it. I could hardly stand up. Not that I needed to, because within seconds, the same two vampires were holding me back, and two more had grabbed Max.

Cauis, Marcus, and Aro stepped forward again. "That was some show," Aro said plainly, sizing us up. "But you're no match for us." He signaled to the two vampires holding me, and they let go, making me crumple to the ground, with no hopes of getting up.

I felt a new wave of pain hit me, and I couldn't even muster enough strength to scream. So I didn't. I laid there and took it, while they all looked on silently. I don't know how long that went on. Some days it seems like seconds, some it seems like days. But when I felt it, it felt like a year. Nevertheless, I fainted eventually.

When I woke up, I was on my bed, with Max holding my hand again. For a second, I thought that was all just a terrible dream, and then the pain set in. My entire body ached. I groaned and felt Max shift next to me.

"Hey Dawn, how you feeling?" he whispered in my ear.

"Like shit," I whispered back. He patted my hair and I curled up closer to him. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry about it," he said simply.

I nodded and closed my eyes. And, for the first time in almost half a year, I slept.

I felt fully human again, and to be honest, it was not a good feeling. I felt weak... vulnerable... dead.

That was the feeling, exactly. Dead. My body was telling me that I shouldn't be alive right now. That the pain I just experienced was too much. Maybe it was the vampire part of me that kept me going. Maybe I'm stronger than I think. But then and there, on my bed with Max, I felt. That was the most important thing. I ached, I was angry, I was sad... I was terrified... But I was feeling this. I felt human again. I fell asleep.

I don't know how much later, but I woke up, and Max was still there. I felt a little better and I rolled to face Max. "What are they going to do to me?" I asked him. "You need to tell me."

He gulped. "They're going to burn you."

"What part of me?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No... They're going to burn you like Joan of Arc."

I paused. "Oh," I said eventually. He nodded. "I need a favor from you, Max," I said carefully.

"Anything," he said.

"Bite me. Now."

---

At least I could take comfort in the fact that I got a special execution, not like the everyday criminals that were decapitated and thrown in a huge pit.

They wanted me to suffer.

They weren't even going to decapitate me.

I would be led into an abandoned building, where there would be a stake. (Historically correct, at least.) They would tie me up, and then set me on fire. Then, they'd all leave and let me burn. The plan was to let the building burn, and let me burn with it.

Then the night arrived. Darkness covering us, we marched out into the night. It was a long procession, even though we were moving at a speed faster than any human could detect. We made it to the building and I was tied to the stake. They formed a circle around me. I saw a few sad faces, from the people that I had touched. My eyes found Max's and I dropped my gaze, letting a few tears fall.

Without any words, Marcus came forward and lit a match. Some of the vampires around him backed away, and he threw it onto the pile of wood surrounding me. Everyone vacated quickly, and I remained. This was where it would get tricky.

Like I was going to stay here and burn to death.

As the fire began and filled the air with smoke and fumes, I began to wriggle out of my bindings. I managed to loosen the rope a bit, but not enough to slip out. Carefully, I dipped my hands lower and lower until...

The rope caught fire and I pulled it apart easily.

I untangled myself from the rest of the ropes and attempted to jump over the flames. The trail of my cloak caught fire, so I quickly shed it, leaving me running from the now burning building wearing only black shorts and a tank top. I tried to maneuver my way out of the complicated building, or at least find the stairs. It took longer than expected, and the fire was quick at my heels. I knew the building was going to cave soon. But I found the stairs. I ran down them quickly, faster than I've ever run as a vampire.

But I hadn't expected anyone to be waiting.

A group of vampires waited at the stairs for me, and quickly latched onto me, dragging me back upstairs. I tried my best, but I was vastly outnumbered. They left me upstairs and lit the stairs on fire before running out the building themselves. Now I was surrounded by two fires, that were soon to meet and devour me, with no means of escape.

Well this was a complete failure.

I didn't join the Volturi just to die. I joined to find out who I was... What I was.

I came back to save Bella. They'd only just go back to get her now.

I stayed to protect their marriage. That love that I saw was so perfect, so everlasting... Was I willing to give up here and now only to let the Volturi just go back and completely screw it up again?

I was dead girl. Vampire. Girl-Vampire. Whatever I was, I was dead. Everything I'd ever done was in vain, and my life was over. I felt the building shake, and then it gave out underneath me, the fires colliding where I was. I felt my skin burning, but I couldn't scream. Just when I was about to give up, when my life was so close to being over, I felt a familiar hand slip into mine and pull me up, dragging me away.

We began to run. The night air felt cool on my burned skin. It all seemed so surreal, like I was dead and watching this happen. But no, this was really me. We ran for what seed like five hours, without stopping. But when we did stop, I knew where we were. I knew this place well. It was just another rhythm to follow, and I was being led but him anyway...

Before I knew it, I was on an airplane, holding Max's hand. I was so weak, I couldn't tell you how I found the strength to run for that long. Max had been half-dragging me anyway. I was completely drained, and Max had to keep me awake, for fear that if I fell into sleep, that I would die.

Because, I would. It was given.

Sleep was death for me then and there, on that airplane ride. I was almost fully vampire again, and soon sleep wouldn't be a problem. But until we got to wherever we were going, I was in serious danger of death.

I hardly noticed the airplane trip at all. It wasn't until the pilot said that it was overcast with a heavy chance of rain did I know where we were:

Oregon.

---

I don't know how Alice knew, but the second we got off the plane, I saw the entire Cullen family waiting for me. But when they saw me, they knew something was wrong. Max was carrying me, because it took all the strength I had to get off the plane. He had taken me up in his arms the second we were off the actual airplane.

I can't tell you anything that happened after that, because I don't even know. All I know is that I woke up the next day in my bedroom, with Max's hand in mine.

From then on, I knew that I had to watch my back. I needed to find out what I was, and I needed to do it now. I needed to go to Washington. I looked over at Max.

Max needed to come.

I'd troubled the Cullens enough, now it was time for me to stick up for myself.

But even as I tried to roll over, I found that I couldn't do it. In all senses of the word, I was stuck. I couldn't move, I was back in Oregon, and none of the Cullens would let me go out again.

It was like being a prisoner... all over again.

**A/N:** meep! How'd you like it? (And yes, Devon's coming back next chapter.) This chapter just came to me, seriously. And 3,000 words to boot! Heck yes!

So yeah... Hope you liked it! And yes, just in case it hasn't been mentioned earlier in the story, the Cullens live in Oregon now. . Oregon's really pretty, for those of you who haven't been there. (Also, coincidentally, it has America's largest bookstore. It's amazing. If you ever go to Portland, go to Powell's bookstore.) Review please, people! The story only gets better from here on out!


	13. Answers

I refused to go to school for the first two weeks. I claimed that I was "still adjusting" then "sick" then "still weak" then "depressed" then "not ready" and then I said that I needed to go shopping before going back to school, because I had no clothes to wear.

I thought that last excuse would work for at least a little while more, but I was (unpleasantly) surprised when Alice, Rosalie, and Bella kidnapped me at night and took me shopping.

It was the first time in a long time that I wasn't with Max... and it felt weird. Like part of me was missing. I had grown so attached to him. He stayed in my room with me and comforted me. Sometimes, I would lock myself in the room for days and only he would be able to calm me down.

None of the Cullens liked Max. It was completely obvious, even though they wouldn't admit it. He wasn't too happy with them either. But they put up with each other for my sake.

But, again, I was in the mall with the girls, shopping.

Why does it always end up like this?

I hadn't really talked to any of them since I had been back. Sure, I'd thrown the odd excuse at them and told them that I didn't want to talk about anything. But this was the most amount of time I had spent with them. They bought me another large load of clothes. I hated thinking that this was just like the beginning of the year all over again. All we needed was our song to come on. But it didn't. And nothing was the same.

They talked to each other and talked to me, but I hardly said anything. I was miserable. All I wanted to do was run away from the mall and back to Max's protective embrace... But I couldn't. We left the mall burdened with many bags of clothes. It was unhealthy. I slouched in the back looking out my window.

"So, we told the school that you'll be returning tomorrow," Alice said nonchalantly.

I stared at her. "Tomorrow?" I croaked out.

"We enrolled Max as well, don't worry," Bella told me, placing her hand on top of mine.

I scowled and pulled my hand away. "Great," I muttered.

"Attitude check, aisle Dawn," Rosalie remarked. "You have to face it eventually."

But I didn't want to. Max and I had been planning to escape before we had to resort to that. I didn't want Devon to see me... To know that I had come back... Again. I didn't want to feel the pain that I knew I would feel when I saw him

I had to break the news to Max. He was okay with it, at least. Well, he seemed like he was. We were lying on the bed in my room curled up against each other. "Does this mean we get to see Devon?" he asked, his breath tickling my ear.

"Yes. Unfortunately," I whispered. "You know how things ended. It wasn't pretty."

He squeezed my hand and we sat in silence for a few hours, left to our thoughts. I was trying to piece together how I could avoid Devon for the longest time possible. He was probably wondering what Devon was like, since he had heard so much about him from me.

Tomorrow came too fast.

The next thing I knew, I was getting dressed and headed out the door with Max at my side. We piled into the car with Rose and Emmett, following Edward's car with the rest of the family inside it. Thankfully, the Cullens put in a request that Max be transferred into all my classes, telling them that I was going through a depression and needed him for emotional support.

We hadn't taken two steps onto campus before I heard it. "Dawn?" Devon called, and I could hear the clear confusion in his voice. I grabbed Max's arm and weaved into the most crowded part of the school, trying to lose 

him. I pulled Max into a congested hallway and took a round-about way of getting to homeroom. I chanced a look behind me and couldn't spot Devon, which was a good thing. We had lost him.

Max and I took two empty seats in the back of the homeroom class. "Was that...?" he trailed off, staring at me.

I blushed and looked down at the graffiti on my desk. "Yeah."

"Why didn't we stop?" Max asked. I shot him a glare. "Okay, got the picture." He looked around the classroom. "So this is what American schools are like, eh? Went to boarding school for most of my life, I told you that right?" he babbled, obviously trying to change the subject.

I sighed and looked up at him. "Did you really?"

"Yeah!" he exclaimed, perking up at the chance to talk about himself. "I went to this one school when I was ten in France. All the classes were taught by nuns, I didn't even know there were still schools run by nuns at the time. But there were! It was so weird. I hated it there, so I kind of set of a smoke bomb in one of the classrooms and got myself kicked out halfway through the year."

I giggled. "A smoke bomb? Original." I smirked at him.

"I was ten, okay? Craftiness came later," he explained himself. "Oh but there was this one teacher I had when I was thirteen. God, she was a bitch..." And he kept me entertained for a while with his stories. We talked all through homeroom and our first period, English. But what didn't go unnoticed by us were the stares we were getting. Sure. I return after over two months without a word with a mysteriously hot new guy with a British accent.

Just a little out of the ordinary.

As Max and I were hurrying out of English, Cassie appeared at my side. I hadn't even spoken to her since my first day here. Sure, whenever I was _at_ school, I saw her. She was in my English class, making her hard to avoid. But we didn't talk to each other. I suspected she was still a bit miffed at me blowing her off to hang out with the Cullens. "Hey Dawn," she chirped as the three of us walked into the main part of the campus. "How have you been? You've been gone for a while, we've been getting worried."

A little startled, I stumbled over my words, "Well... I, er..."

"She's been in London," Max answered for me, smiling down at Cassie. "We went to the same school there, and she moved into my foster home. Unfortunately, the foster family had to give up some of us, so we both came to the Cullens who were just so kind to take us in, especially me. A foreigner. I'd be all alone if it wasn't for Dawn. She's a lifesaver," he explained elaborately. I smiled at him, impressed at his ability to come up with a story like that on the fly.

"Cassie, this is Max. We're helping each other get through our emotional stress. You see, a lot of things happened while we were in London." I smirked at him. "I saved Max from these assassins that mistook him for their target. Thanks to my negotiating skills, Max here is still alive."

Max winked at me. "Oh, yeah, that was impressive. But what about the time I saved you from that burning building?" Cassie gasped.

"Did you really?" she exclaimed. "What were you doing in a burning building?"

"The mafia!" Max exclaimed. "They weren't happy that she outsmarted their assassins so they kidnapped her and hid her in an abandoned building they set on fire. If I hadn't tailed them, Dawn would have been burned to death."

Cassie gasped again. "Just like Joan of Arc?"

I held back a giggle. "Yeah. Just like Joan of Arc. It was terrifying."



"Oh you have to tell the others, come on let's go to the cafeteria! Tiffany has been _dying_ to talk to you ever since I mentioned I saw you briefly this morning. You looked like you were in a hurry, so I didn't stop you." Cassie began babbling. "I mean, I was standing and talking to everyone and then all of a sudden Devon's like, 'Dawn!' and takes after you. Whatever happened to you guys? Did you, like, break up?" I paled. Devon. Oh my dear God.

Max snorted. "Something like that." He winked at Cassie. "I was hanging out with Dawn one day... in London. And then her phone rings. I grab it from her dresser and look at the caller I.D. And it says Devon. So I throw the phone to her gently and ask her who he is. She, of course, pales at his name and doesn't answer my question, just answers the phone and begins talking to him. It seemed like a normal conversation before they go into this huge argument and the next thing I know, Dawn chucks the phone at the wall and falls on the bed crying. It was so dramatic."

"Oh, you poor thing!" Cassie exclaimed, hugging me quickly. "How bad was the break up?"

I frowned. "I don't want to talk about it."

"So is that when you two started dating?" she asked quickly. "I mean, it's obvious. You guys were _holding hands_ all this morning. People saw you."

At the statement, Max and I began laughing loudly. Dating? Max and I? How rich! "We..." I paused, laughing more, "We're not dating. He's like my brother."

"Bloody hell, legally I _am_ your brother," Max added, causing more laughter. "I'm more of a... free spirit, so to speak," he explained. "Don't like to be tied down."

"I see," she said, smiling. She led us into the cafeteria and to the table with the most people. She made three people get up and move so we could sit down.

"Dawn!" Tiffany exclaimed, throwing her arms around me. "It's been so long! Two months, right? Oh my god, where HAVE you been?"

"She's been in _London_," Cassie explained, raising her eyebrows. "Oh, but you should have them tell the story."

I cleared my throat. "Uh, before that, this is Max. He's a _friend_ from London. _Just_ a friend. He's moved in with the Cullens." Smiling at Max, I told them, "I saved Max's life when I first met him. And then he rescued me from a burning building."

"OH MY! What were you doing in a burning building?" Tiffany asked, sitting down next to me.

"It was the mafia!" Cassie told her, leaning into the table. "Isn't that exciting?"

Tiffany tilted her head to the side. "I thought the mafia was in Italy?"

"Well, she started out in Italy, didn't you, Dawn?" I heard from behind me. I cringed, recognized the voice immediately. Devon sat down next to me and looked me straight in the eye. "It was Italy, right?"

"Devon..." I breathed out. "I..." Cassie and Tiffany got up and moved away from us. "We... we need to talk," I whispered to him. We both stood up and Max made to go with us. "No, Max. We need to talk alone." I bit my lip and added, "Please."

He nodded and walked over to Cassie and Tiffany, looking back at me quickly. Devon and I walked out of the cafeteria and began circling the campus. We didn't speak at first. I heard him sigh, and then begin to speak, "Bella and I are going to the bathroom, we'll be back." He looked down at me. "Why?"

I broke his gaze and looked at my feet. "It's not that simple."

He stopped. I stood a few feet in front of him and he stared at me. "You keep saying things like that. I won't understand. It's not that simple. Then make me understand, make it that simple."



"People want to _kill me_. Can you blame me for not wanting to get you involved?" I snapped at him. Taking a deep breath, I added, "It's just they would come after you."

"Listen, Dawn... I don't really _care_. You were going to tell me before. How has that changed?"

I gritted my teeth. "I. Can't. Tell. You. They'll kill me if I tell you." Rubbing my lips together, I told him, "I can't _tell_ you. But..."

"If I guess?"

"And I so happen to just nod my head?"

"Okay."

We both smiled. Compromise. I sighed and pulled the picture I kept in my back pocket. I had taped it onto one of my binders for school, but it had fallen off. I just happened to fold it and put it in the pair of jeans I was wearing when I was attacked and changed. I unfolded the extremely creased lines and handed it to him.

"What's this?" he asked, looking down at the picture. "This girl, who is she?"

I gave him a sad smile. "You don't recognize her?"

He shook his head and looked up at me for a moment before staring back at the picture. Then he looked at me again. "The eyes..." He looked straight into mine. "Your eyes, they're so similar."

I nodded. "That was what I looked like on the first day of school."

"No, you didn't... I saw you on your first day. You looked like... you," he argued. "And you started a week into school."

I shook my head again. "I was enrolled for the first week. Under a different last name. I was early and... then I was attacked."

He furrowed his brow. "You have a knack for that. People going after you, that is."

I scoffed. "Yeah. Tell me about it." He chuckled and looked at the picture again.

"How is it that you looked like this a week before I meet you?"

I bit my lip. "I... er... _changed_."

"Into what?"

I threw my hair back and shook my head. "Can't say."

He frowned. "This is going to be difficult." Devon looked at the picture again. "You look so alive here..."

"On the right track there, with me looking _alive_ there."

His head snapped up. "Are you a zombie?"

I giggled. "No, but close."

"Are you dead?"

"I should be," I answered truthfully. "If I was _human_, I'd be dead."

He frowned. "You said you were attacked..." I nodded. "The person who attacked you... Were they human?"

"No," I said.

"Do I know them? The person who attacked you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "It was man, older man. He's in Washington right now." He looked like he was going to ask me about that, but I interrupted him by saying, "Don't ask me how I know, I just do."

"Okay..."

I tilted my head at him. "So... What have we established so far?" I asked him.

He smirked. "You're not alive... or not human, at least. But you're not a zombie..."

"What else is undead?" I asked him, pushing him the direction I wanted him to go in.

His face twisted into concentration. "I'm really not good with this comic book kind of stuff..." he muttered.

I snorted. "I'm _not_ a comic book character."

He smiled at me. "I know. Gimmie a sec."

So I waited. A minute passed and he kept looking from the picture to me and back again. "Do you need a hint?" I finally asked. He nodded. "Umm... I don't eat the kind of food you eat... In fact I don't eat at all... My diet is fluid-based."

And then I saw it. The gears in his head clicked. He looked up at me with a scared expression. "You're a... a-a _vampire_?" he whispered.

I nodded, smiling slightly at him. Partially to show that I was happy he got it, and partially to show him I don't have fangs.

"How is that _possible_?" he asked, taking a step closer to me. "You're so... _you_ and, like... normal."

I full out laughed at that. "Normal is going to Italy on no notice at all and stealing sports cars?" He laughed at that. "Okay, now that you're in on the secret... I gotta tell you something freaky." He nodded at me. "Um... yeah. The Cullens?"

"They're vampires too, right?" he guessed.

Letting out a sigh, I nodded. "Yeah. Now here's the really freaky part. Edward can read minds. And Alice sees the future," I spat out. He took in a sharp breath. "In fact, both of them are probably going to be really miffed at me for telling you. Because they totally already know."

"So... wow, I think I need to sit down." We walked to the nearest bench and sat down. He started again, "So... do you like... kill people?" I saw him gulp.

I shook my head. "I'm weird, I'm not attracted to human blood. Animals are more my kind of thing. I'm just like a messed up carnivore." I pointed to my eyes. "I'm also a mutant," I added, with a smile. "Honestly, I don't understand why I'm so different, so I'm not going to try and explain it. But, basically, my eyes are supposed to be gold or red, but they're not."

He ran a hand through his hair. "So that's why you're so... cold all the time? And how you and your family are so perfect? Because you're..."

"Vampires," I finished for him.

"This is so... sci-fi. It's kind of freaking me out." He laughed and I giggled with him. "So... what does that mean about us?"



I smiled, finally able to give him some good news. "Bella and Edward had this, years back. Only Bella was human, and Edward was a vampire. He changed her." And then, as an afterthought, I added, "Because she asked him to."

"Oh. So we're not the first to try this?" he asked eagerly.

I blinked and tilted my head again. "This?"

"Yeah, you know. A human/vampire relationship. Because, really, I don't think I care. So long as you keep your family from killing me," he joked, laughing.

"You're... you're sure about this? You want to go out with a monster like me?"

He caressed my face. "You're no monster." I caught his hand with lightening speed, no longer having to slow my motions down for him. I smiled at him and I saw the corners of his lips rise to. He leaned in to kiss me but paused just an inch from my lips. "You're not going to bite me, are you?" he whispered, his hot breath tingling my cold lips.

I smirked at him. "Just shut up and kiss me already," I said and no sooner had the words left my mouth that he had his lips on mine. It was brief, but so nice that I didn't want to let it go. But I did and we pulled apart. I nodded to the bathroom pass in his hand and told him, "Go back to class. I'm sure some poor kid is practically peeing his pants waiting for you to come back." We stood up and walked toward where his class was. Almost instinctively, he slipped his hand into mine and intertwined our fingers. He kissed me briefly again before he re-entered into his classroom. Smiling to myself, I walked back to the cafeteria, where I knew a questioning Max would be waiting for me.

And sure enough, the second I entered the cafeteria, Max twitched and waved me over. The girls were drawn to him – the new comer from across the pond. A smile pulled at my lips as I walked towards them. They were falling over themselves trying to talk to Max. But he was totally enjoying the attention he was getting. I rolled my eyes and squeezed myself next to him, thoroughly pissing off the girl who was slowly inching towards him every second. "Hey, how did things go?" he whispered in a low tone, too fast and too quiet for any human to hear.

"Couldn't have been better," I whispered back. And for the third – but definitely not the last – time that day, we told the story of the mafia who wanted to kill us. Burning buildings and all. But, soon enough, the period was over and it was time for lunch. I was dreading this, because of course Alice would know, and Edward too. And I had this terrible feeling that the only one who would understand – or even give me sympathy – was Bella. Because she was in Devon's shoes just a few years ago.

Max and I made our excuse to go join the Cullens. We didn't speak as we joined their group. We shuffled towards the food area, not speaking while the rest of the people around us couldn't shut up. And then it hit me, like a ten foot wave. Guilt. I had just told Devon the secret... and he wanted to have a relationship with me, regardless. And now I was going to have leave and get my ass to Washington with enough time to find out whatever he did to me to make me completely and utterly different.

And then I saw Edward's head snap at me. _Oh shit_, I thought, knowing he could hear me. Now he knew. And he was going to bring it up. He fully turned around and stared at me, throwing all his concentration into my mind. I narrowed my eyes at him and thought, _Get out. Now._ He sneered at me.

"Fine," he said. "When are you going? Do you want me to help you pack?" We glared at each other for a tense second. I tried to calm myself down, I really did. But with him so blatantly challenging me, how could I? I knew how to fight. I probably couldn't take him myself, but Max would jump in and help, and he knew too. You didn't spend two months with the Volturi without a little fight training. Our family looked around nervously, trying to see if anyone was noticing this. I felt my fangs extend, getting ready for a fight. Nobody moved for a tense second. I would wait to see if Edward was going to make the first strike. And he knew that. So nobody moved. It seemed like hours had passed, me ready to spring down into a fighting position in less than a second's notice.

"DAWN!" I heard, and it broke my concentration. I whipped in the direction the voice was coming from, seeing Devon wave at me. I attempted to wave back at him, but the next thing I knew, I was flying to the ground. And it was _so_ on. I heard the rest of my family gasp as me and Edward began to brawl. I lost all perception of what 

was going on around us. All that mattered was getting out from under Edward. Our family had surrounded us, and they were desperately trying to pry Edward from me, while I was clawing at him to keep him near, so I could throw a shot in. But Emmett was too strong for me, and he pulled Edward off while Max helped me scramble to my feet. People were trying to peer in from behind my family, but they were doing a sufficient job to hiding us. I suppressed a growl, and I heard him hiss at me. I attempted to kick myself out of Max's arms, but his hold tightened on me.

And it was over before it really even started. Edward and I continued lock eyes for moment, but then I broke it and looked at Max, nodding. He knew it too. Without another word, we both left the cafeteria. We rounded the building and once nobody could see us, we ran. We jumped over the wall with ease, and we were out of the school. We needed only to stop at the house for a second. All I needed was to grab some of the cash I had stowed there, and the backpack that I had packed in anticipation of having to leave this suddenly. We ran into the house and didn't stop to answer Esme's questions. We ran up to the room, and Max grabbed his bag as well.

We exchanged a glance and then we were out, flying down the stairs. I gave Esme a hug and a kiss goodbye, promising quickly to call when I could. Max grabbed my hand and we were flying north. I tried to keep from making a decision, making all choices impulsive so that Alice wouldn't have anything to draw on. I had made sure to keep Max at arm's distance, so he only knew we had to go north. He didn't know how far, and he didn't know the final destination. Then I remember what Alice had once said... That she could see vampire's and human's future, but not werewolves... So I made my mind up to finding the werewolves, knowing my future would disappear in her mind.

We ran in silence, no need to talk. I knew what had to be done. But it practically suicide. Going after a fully mature vampire, whose abilities we had no idea of, with only two practically newborns. We were untrained, and he'd had centuries worth of training. Probably. We were assuming. And all we had to go on were this name and phone number Bella had given me. Jacob, she'd said. I figured at the pace we were going, we'd be there in a few hours. I stopped and Max stood next to me. "What's going on?" he asked me.

I pulled out my cellphone and typed in the phone number. It rang twice, but during the middle of the third ring, someone answered. "Hello?" asked the gruff voice.

"Is this Jacob?"

"Who's asking?"

"My name is Dawn Cullen, I'm friends with Bella. She gave me your number."

"Why would she do that?"

I bit my lip. "Because I'm 'Blue Eyes'."

There was silence on the other line. "How far away are you?"

"Two hours, maybe."

"I'll meet you at the treaty line."

"What treaty line?"

"Just go towards the smell of wet dog, okay?"

"Okay." I hung up the phone. Max grabbed my hand again and we were off, pushing ourselves further this time. We were getting closer and closer, I could feel it. And then I picked up the scent of wet dog, just like Jacob told me. It was heading north north west. So we followed it, cringing at the smell, but knowing that it would lead us to help. The smell was becoming more potent by the minute. We ran into the forest that seemed to surround everything, dodging trees and jumping over streams with ease. Once the smell became unbearable, I felt it was time to stop. We were in their territory, and they certainly wouldn't be happy about it.

I heard some rustling in the forest, and Max and I crouched down, waiting for a fight. But what came out of the bushes to stand in front of us was a man, he looked like he could be anywhere from his late teens to his mid-

twenties. He was tall, extremely tall. He was very tan, and wore only a pair of beat up shorts. He held up his hands and we backed out of our fighting stance, standing up straight. "Jacob?" I asked.

He nodded. "Dawn, I'll assume."

"Yes. This is my friend, Max." Max nodded. "We just need to know if he's still here," I asked him.

Jacob nodded. "He's still here. I can show you his most recent trail."

"Thank you."

He averted his gaze to the trees, clearly arguing with himself in his head. "Er... how's Bella?" he asked carefully.

"Fine, better. She's happy again... I think. I haven't been around much." I frowned, thinking about how little time I had actually spent with Bella.

"Do you know of the treaty?" he suddenly asked, his gaze snapped to me. I shook my head. "I can allow you to pass this treaty line, but you cannot kill or harm any human in this area."

I laughed a bit. "It's not like I'm really attracted to human blood, no worries on this front. And Max has never tasted human blood, and we've both recently hunted. I can assure you," I told him, "no humans are in danger here."

He nodded again. "Although I suppose that the treaty's kind of broken now. The vampire, the one you're looking for, he's been killing people. But I'll let you pass." He stepped aside and we crossed the border, which I could clearly tell. The whole border looked like it had been run over many times, with paw prints fresh in the worn down ground. "If you need help," Jacob said suddenly, "Just call me. The werewolves are friends to the Cullens, and we want this vermin off our land." Max and I nodded. "Follow me," he said, walking westward. The pace was so slow, considering that Max and I had been running for hours, now. The sun would be setting soon. I caught the small, fleeting scent of another vampire, and knew it had to be him. It was too similar to mine.

"Wait, just a second, Jacob," I said, bringing the group to a halt. I thrust my arm out to Max. "You know what you have to do."

He looked confused, and threw a glance in Jacob's direction. "But, Dawn, it couldn't possibly..."

"We don't know that. I'm covering all my bases, and I'll be my strongest this way." I all but hit him in the face with my arm, I was putting it so close. He gave in and bit me on the arm, just long enough to get some venom in there. He licked the wound, sealing it up again. The familiar stinging sensation burned through my arm. "Let's continue."

Jacob muttered under his breath, "Vampires. Biting each other. My day could not get weirder." We walked for a few minutes more, and the scent was very potent now. "You got it from here, I assume?" he asked, stopping our group again. Max and I nodded, looking westward where our new prey lurked.

"Thanks for your help," I said in earnest. "I'd shake your hand but..."

"Yeah, I know. I stink, you stink. We're supposed to hate each other." He rolled his eyes. "I got it." He stalked off into some bushes and stood in them for a moment, but then a large wolf jumped out of the bushes and took off running. We looked after him as he ran south-west, but then we were off running on the scent.

It seemed like he was heading straight for the ocean, which probably wasn't too far off from where he was. We ran straight for a while, but then it started turning, so now we were heading north even more. We were deep in the forest, and we could just barely smell the ocean. The gloomy clouds above looked like they were about to rain, but I was used to that by now. This whole area hardly saw sunshine.

But I focused ahead of me. At the end of this scent were all the answers I haven't found. Everything I needed to know.

And the vengeance I couldn't wait to have.

**A/N: Well, it's been long enough, hasn't it? I'm ashamed, and I'm sorry because no excuse is good enough. But, seriously. This chapter? It's FIVE THOUSAND WORDS LONG. : At least you can take comfort in that. I was reading Breaking Dawn (OMG. THAT'S ALL I'M GOING TO SAY.) and then I was just pushed over by my idea for this chapter. Like, I actually stopped reading, got my laptop out, and wrote half of this chapter before reading again. So yeah, I kinda have a feeling of where this is going to go now, FINALLY. And it'll probably end somewhere around chapter 20. Nothing definite in that, though. Be expecting another chapter in a few days or so.**


	14. Washington

**I told you he was more interesting than you thought. Oh, and I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY. Over a year? Yeah, that's a new record. I would tell you that my computer crashed and that school is really difficult now, but those are really just me taking advantage of things to excuse away my laziness.**

_Four months ago…_

"Hello?" Devon said into his phone, after answering it on the second ring. The caller I.D. had simply said unknown caller, but Devon answered it anyway.

"Is this Devon Preasley?" the voice asked. It was a guy's voice, that much he could tell. He didn't pick up on an age, though.

He hesitated. "Yes…" he drawled out for a moment. Then, he snapped, "Who is this?"

"My name is William. And you're going to do what I say, or I'm going to come to your house, kill your family and then kill you."

Devon clasped the phone tighter to this ear. "Listen, freak, I don't know who you think you are, but I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be."

For some reason, he hesitated again. "Okay… what do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Do you know a girl named Dawn? She would go by the last name Cullen now."

Devon paused. He didn't want anyone to hurt Dawn, so was he really going to just tell this total stranger that he knew her? "Yeah. She goes to school with me."

"Ah, you want to protect her. You see, I've already done a number on her, but I'm going to need your help. I'm sure you're wondering why she's so strange."

"Well, I wouldn't call her strange…"

"Her body temperature is about sixty degrees, she never eats anything, she disappears without excuses, and sometimes she does things that you don't think are possible. Right?"

Devon gulped. "Yes," he said simply.

"That's because she's a vampire. And I need your help to kill her."

_Two months ago…_

"Bella and I are going to the bathroom, we'll be back," Dawn said to him, with a smile that Devon returned. He watched her and the other girl walk away. He sank into one of the empty chairs around them at the gate. And he started to recite poems in his head. He had to memorize a number of them for school, and they became useful in times like this, when he was trying to keep someone from seeing his thoughts. He knew that his poetry was keeping Edward out of his mind.

It had taken him a while to warm up to the idea of vampires. At first, he didn't want to believe it. Then, he started noticing things about the Cullens. They were strange people, to say the least. But, then Devon had to remind himself. They weren't people. They were vampires. He kept repeating the poems in his mind. He would have to keep this up until he was safely out of range from Edward. Being near him was hazardous to him and his mission.

He waited impatiently for Dawn's return. Sometimes he forgot she was a vampire too. She seemed so nice, so normal. But then, she would smile that charming smile of hers and he would see the tip of a fang. Or, a rare ray of sunlight might hit her and he would see her skin sparkle.

The worst part was pretending he didn't know. It was taking him longer than he thought to get the truth out of her. He had to play the innocent human and wait for her to tell him. He felt kind of bad, though. In the beginning, he had genuinely liked Dawn. But she was a monster, something that shouldn't exist. He wasn't going to harm the Cullens. No, Dawn didn't need to die because she was a vampire. She needed to die because she was an anomaly.

Devon switched over to song lyrics when he got sick of poetry. Edward didn't seem too interested anyway. He seemed a bit preoccupied. In fact, it kind of looked like he was talking the other girl. Alice. Talking without using words. Which, now that he thought about it, they probably were. He quickly averted his thoughts back to song lyrics. He couldn't get caught.

He turned around in his chair when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. The other vampire returned, without Dawn. It only took him a split second to realize what had happened. She had run away, again. She had slipped from his grip yet another time! He masked his anger with fake worry. He stood up and approached Bella. He asked, "Where's Dawn?" with all the innocence he could manage.

She looked around uncomfortably. Finally, she glanced at Edward. Her face fell into an angry, sarcastic expression. "Why don't you have Edward tell you?" she snapped, more towards him than to Devon.

She stepped away from him, joining Alice in hushed conversation as Edward simply stated, "She's not coming back."

Damnit!

_Present day…_

Devon sat through twenty minutes of AP English before he raised his hand and asked for the bathroom pass. It was a sufficient amount of time, and the teacher didn't think anything of it. But, Devon had no intentions of going to the bathroom. Dawn was back in town, which meant that it was time to get some answers.

He already knew the answers, but he needed to hear them from her. He needed to give her a reason to leave Astoria and find William. What better reason than to spill her secret to a human, upsetting her family? He wasn't expecting the British nuisance, though. He was going to be annoyed and needed to be dispatched as well.

Devon quickly made his way to the cafeteria. He only had so long before his teacher would notice him missing. He scanned the room quickly before picking out her unmistakable hair in the largest throng of people in the room. He walked over quietly, so he wouldn't register in her mind. They were talking about the mafia and some story about her and the British guy. He eavesdropped on the conversation for a moment. Finally, he found an opening.

"Well, she started out in Italy, didn't you, Dawn?" he snapped, sarcastically. She looked back at him, shocked. Some people in the crowd dispersed. Astoria was small, and word traveled. He slipped into one of the vacated spots next to Dawn and asked, "It was Italy, right?"

The ten minutes that followed were everything Devon needed. He played his cards exactly right and got her to spill the darkest secret she had. It couldn't have been planned any better. Now he just had to wait for her guilt to catch up with her or for Edward to figure it out. Neither of which would take very long, he knew.

He returned to class and handed the pass back to his teacher with a smirk on his face. He doubted she even registered how long he had spent in the "bathroom". The rest of the class flew by, and Devon rushed back to the cafeteria to watch the inevitable pan out. He had a feeling lunch would be more than eventful today. He watched Dawn carefully from across the room. The Cullens seemed to be aware of the fact that she had told him when she joined them in the lunch line. Then, just as he was watching Dawn's face fade into guilt, Edward snapped his head to her. Obviously he heard something in her head that put him on the offensive.

After a few tense seconds of staring at each other, Devon didn't feel like waiting any longer. "Dawn!" he called to her from across the room. She snapped out of her fighting stance with Edward and began to wave when he attacked her. It couldn't have been more perfect. He watched the Cullens react, forming a barrier around the two. Then, just as quickly as it had started, it was over. Max was holding back Dawn and one of the others was holding back Edward. Then, Dawn was gone, Max at her heels like a little puppy.

Devon smiled to himself. This was all so perfect. He pulled out his cell phone and sent a quick text to William saying, "She's on her way." He smirked as he got the green arrow on the display, letting him know that the message had been sent. He looked up from his phone, slipping it back in his pocket, and made eye contact with Edward.

He saw the look on concentration on his face, and Devon freaked out. He tried to stop himself from thinking about it, but he couldn't. Edward narrowed his eyes. Now he knew.

Devon ran out of the cafeteria and to the parking lot. He hopped into his care, purposefully parked near the entrance of the parking lot. He yelled something about forgetting his book in the car to the teacher who was on patrol before he hopped in the car and sped out of the parking lot quickly. He was pushing one hundred on the high way when he saw a familiar car pull up beside him. He looked over at the Volvo and noticed both Edward and Bella in the car. Satisfied that he had seen them, Edward sped off in front of Devon. In a few minutes, the silver car was out of his sight.

Devon slammed his hand into the dashboard, cursing.

---

I slowed down as the trail we had on William faded into nonexistence. How could he just disappear from such a strong trail we had on him? I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I've got nothing," I said, turning to Max.

He shook his head. "I can't believe it," he said. I sat down on the ground where we were and waited for him to join me on the ground. He laid down and laced his fingers through mine. "So, I've been thinking…" he started saying when we were interrupted.

"Dawn!" I heard echoing through the woods. "Dawn!" I stood up, leaving Max on the ground. Once more, I heard, "Dawn!" Then I knew who it was.

"Edward?" I called out. In seconds, he and Bella were standing in clear view of me and Max. Max stood up, but didn't look to happy to see them either.

"Thank God," Bella whispered as she came and hugged me. "I knew something was off about him, but I didn't know if it was right. He seemed so nice…"

"What are you talking about?" I asked them, pushing away from her hug. I didn't want them here. I didn't want them anywhere near me. Especially Edward. "Why are you here? I thought from the fact that we just got into a fight that you wouldn't be following us," I said pointedly.

Edward looked around and simply said, "Things change. Listen, you need to hear us out. Devon is not who you think he is."

I scoffed. "I cannot believe you. You, of all people, should know what this is like for me! Honestly, are you that much of a hypocrite? You did the same thing with Bella! And saying that he's not who I think he is? What are you? A detective now? Jesus Christ, Edward, why don't you just leave me alone?" I practically screamed at him.

Bella took a step towards me. "Dawn, you need to listen to us. We're serious. Devon, he's dangerous."

I laughed dryly at her words. "Yeah, I'm so scared of a human. I've got the entirety of the Volutri looking for me so they can kill me. Devon's no threat to me." I glared at the two of them. "Just go away. I don't need your help, nor do I want it!"

Edward exchanged a look with Bella. "You see, we thought you might say something like that." Catching me off guard, both he and Bella ran towards me and grabbed me. Max stood there shocked. I struggled, but the two of them held me tightly. "We're going back to Astoria now. We'll explain things on the way."

The two of them dragged me through the forest and to where their car was parked, near the treaty line where I had met Jacob just hours ago. Max was quick to follow us, already resigned to returning after our short-lived adventure. They threw me in the back seat of the Volvo and told Max to get in as well. We were going back to Astoria whether we wanted to or not.

Nobody said anything as we drove away from the forested area and into a small town. Bella seemed enraptured by the town, but Edward looked at it with cold nonchalance. Edward was speeding through the town, not wanting to stay too long and look at it. I caught a glimpse of the sign. Forks, Washington. Didn't Alice say that this was where Bella and Edward first met? Where Bella's dad still lived?

Edward took a turn too quickly and slammed into a mail box. He stopped and hesitated for a moment. Bella turned to him slowly and hissed, "Do not get out of the car."

"I just hit the mail box, I have to get out of the car."

"I swear to God, Edward, if you get out of this car I will—"

I never found out what her threat was because Edward was already out of the car before she finished her sentence. She jumped out of the car as well, joining him on the grass of the house and screaming at him.

I began to panic when the police car rolled around the corner. Obviously, both Bella and Edward did too, because they stopped fighting when they saw the car as well. The car pulled over in front of the Volvo and the officer stepped out. I heard, through the doors of the car, Edward greeting him as Mr. Swan. Bella's father.

A welcome distraction. I hit Max's arm and opened my door slowly. We both slipped out of the car, unnoticed by the three that were on the grass of the house, still talking. Mr. Swan was interrogating Edward as to why he was in Forks again. That was when Max and I began running.

"Dawn," Max yelled. I was a few paces ahead of him as we ran through the forest, back the way we came. I ignored him. "Dawn!" he yelled again. I heard him make a disgruntled noise as I continued to ignore him and, next thing I knew, he had tackled me to the ground. We struggled, he, trying to hold me down, and I, trying to gain control. He gripped my wrists tightly as I flailed out towards him and pinned me to the ground, straddling my stomach and effectively holding me down. After a few seconds, he hissed, "Are you crazy?" He nodded back the way we had just run from. "I don't think we should be so quick to ignore them," he said quietly.

I glared at him. "Judas!" I spat, renewing my struggle. He only pinned me tighter.

"Geez, will you listen?" he asked. "Maybe… just maybe, there _is_ stuff you don't know about Devon. I mean, you've only known the guy for like five months, and you've only been around him for about a month. I think you're letting your feelings for him cloud your judgment."

I relaxed for a second, pretending like I was listening. "Fine. Okay," I said, sounding defeated. He released his hold on me, but stayed sitting on top of me. When I didn't fight against him, he got up and offered his hand out to me. I gratefully took it and he helped me up. We brushed ourselves off for a moment. I looked back towards the place I knew Edward and Bella still were. "I suppose we should head back."

Max nodded and turned his back to me, walking towards the entrance to the forest we had taken. I walked behind him carefully. Then, as he began to speed up, I took my chance. With as much speed as I could muster, I ran the opposite direction. By the time he noticed, I was long gone. I couldn't believe them. They were doubting my judgment of character! Devon was a good guy. A bit stupid, but a good guy nonetheless. He had no idea who I was before I told him. And why would he? It wasn't like there were many vampires who would take the time to explain it to him and leave him alive.

Speaking of vampires…

I caught the scent and wondered why I hadn't picked it up earlier. I took off in that direction and was excited to find that it kept going and going and going… The more I followed it, the stronger it got. I smelt the salty air and knew I was close to the beach. Then, I slowed as I heard voices. I approached slowly, and saw a figure standing behind some trees. I cleared the trees within seconds and got a clear view of the person.

I knew it was him before he even said a word. I would never forget his face. This was William. This was the vampire who turned me. I heard a twig snap to my left and, before I could say a word to William, I looked over.

"Devon, get out of here!" I screamed and ran over to him. I wrapped my arms around him and tried to force him backwards, back into the forest, so he might get to safety.

It was only after I felt the knife at my neck that I knew I was in trouble.


End file.
